smile!

Soccer

2010-10-30T12:36:00.012-07:00

Bronson's team the "Lizards"
He is 2ND from right

Madelyn and Bronson started soccer in late August. This was their first time playing any organized sports so it has been fun!! I usually laugh at (they don't hear me, lol) Bronson's team because they are hilarious to watch in practice and at games as the five and six year olds try to catch toads and kick the soccer ball into the wrong goal. Both Bronson and Madelyn made progress in the last couple months dribbling, controlling and shooting the ball. They both scored several goals (I bribed them with a dollar for each goal scored, lol) during the season. Bronson's last game was today and ended in a 0-7 record (can't go up from there! LoL), and Madelyn's team is at 5-2 with one more game next week.

Bronson in action (#4)

It is a little hot in September here!

Madelyn's team (the "bears")

Madelyn in action (also #4)

The 'Yahoos'

Time to MAN IT UP!

2010-10-30T11:39:00.008-07:00

We've had more than a few requests on what is up with the blog so I, Jeff, will post.

Kaitlyn was drawn for the "youth any antlered deer" in the middle of October. I have a few spots that I can usually find deer so we went there opening day in the evening (we were not able to hunt opening morning had a endocrinologist appointment in Mesa and I met Monica in Globe to exchange kids and get back to hunt). So we sat on a ridge till it was too dark to see and headed home. Nothing. The next morning we were out the door at 5 and on the trail just after 530. I wanted to be looking into a draw before shooting light. She enough when we made it to that draw a doe and a buck spooked out of the top of the draw giving us no time to set up. We waited 10 minutes or so and continued up the trail. We hiked a few hundred yards along the trail and stopped in the shade for a rest. I turned around to look at the way we had just come and below the trail we had just walked on, in the shade of the steep hill stood a buck looking at us! I didn't pay attention to how big he was, I just knew Kaitlyn needed to get some cross hairs on him before he took off. Well this took about 10 minutes! LOL! The buck was standing, looking at us frozen, like coues deer do and knew he had given us the slip. The buck was only 174 yards but was at a steep angle below and across the draw from us. I had Kaitlyn aim on the top of his back and boom the shot went over him and he was gone!
We hunted several more days only to see does or not see anything at all. Kaitlyn was able to skip out on some days of school and we spent a lot of time together. She did an excellent job keeping up with me hiking in the steep mountains and being patient while I would glass for hours trying to pick out a buck. She is looking froward to her Javalina hunt in a few weeks!
Kaitlyn and her new rifle (custom built .250 Savage by Charles Gatlin). Oh, yeah, Kaitlyn has had upper braces for a month or so. The super trooper!

Madelyn's 7th Birthday!

2010-03-05T17:07:00.006-07:00

Today is Madelyn's 7th birthday! I can't believe it. Last year she was sick on her birthday and we almost thought it would be the same again this year because of her asthma, but we have been managing it closely and she was able to go to school.I remembered about this shirt yesterday so I went looking for it for her to wear today. It was right on top of the spring/summer clothes I was planning to get out next week! Yay!

We had a little family party since Jeff had to work tonight. We had just enough time to open gifts and eat some dinner before he had to leave. I saw these little chihuahua toys at the Walmart and thought they were cute. Our kids love chihuahuas. Don't ask me why! She loved it. Plus there are three so she can share! But will she???New flip flops...one thing she had on her list! Jeff picked out the color. Not my first choice but whatever! She is happy!Jeff convinced her that she needed some new hunting socks. Last night when she was rattling off her list to me again, she said "hunting socks" and I thought this kid is truly brainwashed!We recently rented "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" from Netflix and the kids loved it. I actually thought it was pretty good too! So when I saw it for $5 at Target I picked it right up and then I remembered that Feeney was having a birthday soon so I put it aside for that! Nice!New swimsuit! That she did NOT ask for but was very excited about!Littlest Pet Shop toy... I have no idea about the appeal of these things but she asked for it. I just hope she doesn't get a dozen more with her gift card and money from the grandmas! hahaShe asked for at least five or six necklaces... I looked at the little girls ones and they all looked crappy so this one is actually from the ladies section. She loves the pink! And yes! She only got one! Sheesh!Opening the cards from the grandmas while Daddy brought in her big gift... I caught her expression just in time!A new big bike for our little girl who is getting bigger! Kaitlyn said, "It's an 18 incher!" That was funny!She asked for a chocolate cake with cherry frosting. As I was making it, it smelled just like my mom's homemade chocolate covered cherries. I sprinkled some pink crystals in the shape of a flower on the top but it doesn't look all that great!

What is Madelyn up to now?

She is in first grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Mindy Wilson and if I might speculate just a smidgen... I think she might be the teacher's pet...just sayin'! She actually calls her "Maddie" which is a bit of a sore spot for Jeff and me but what're you gonna do?

She is leading her class in about everything they do! She totally exceeds all the benchmarks set forth for her age bracket! We are proud of her for that!

She is in the CTR 6 class at church now. They changed it this year so its the age you are on January 1st. She loves her teachers and she is a good girl in church!

She wears size 5 in most of her clothes. She wears a size 9 in shoes.

She loves Littlest Pet Shop (LPS) toys. She loves little animals. She loves doing things with Jeff. She is his little shadow. I think she will end up being the hunter more than the other two kids.

She is learning to deal with her asthma. We have figured out a good system for managing it; which is good. Hopefully, she will eventually grow out of it so she can function normally.

Well, we love you Madelyn! We are so glad you are a part of our family!

Valentine's Day!

2010-02-15T16:14:00.006-07:00

Well, after not posting anything for a few weeks I now have a post a day for a few days! Since Bronson was born on Valentine's Day, we basically have to set aside V-day as secondary in our house. It is no problem since it probably wouldn't be all that much most of the time, but it is still a little hard to push to the back of my mind sometimes! Sadly, taking pictures was not a big part of either B's birthday or V-day this year!

For V-day I got each kid a little stuffed toy and a box of candy (actually the candy was from my mom). I don't do a whole lot b/c that wouldn't be fair for B's birthday. We all dressed in red, pink and such for church (including Jeff in the pink shirt~again).

Jeff got a card this year and some candy!

I was shocked, SHOCKED a few days before when he came to me and asked what I wanted for Valentine's day. I can't remember the last time he asked me this! Of course, I had nothing (being caught off guard like that). After a few minutes I came up with a few suggestions. I was also thinking Do I have to get him something? He said he didn't need or want anything. I took that seriously and left it at that. Everything I asked for was something that would have to wait until after V-day anyway so I wasn't counting on anything.

Sunday morning, we were sleeping in since church is at 1:00 for us. Jeff reaches into his side table and pulls out a paper and hands it to me. Its dark in our room, my eyes are still adjusting, the print is small (I notice right away it is not a card)! I saw some numbers and a symbol... After seriously five minutes of him suffering while I tried to adjust my eyes and piece together what this paper said (which was secretly fun for me as I could tell Jeff was anxious), I finally said I see 12 or 22 or 72 + inches and Veyo something... Jeff said 32 inches... I looked again and put some more together...Then I guessed the whole thing Is it 32 inch Vizio flat screen TV??? Yes it was! This will be perfect for our bedroom. I was surprised and amazed that he would do that. It was not something I asked for and it was not something we were planning on any time soon. Thanks Jeff I can't wait 'til it gets here. Oh yeah, he handed me the print off page from ordering it from Walmart.com the night before! Later I said to him that we could share this one since I got him basically nothing...he laughed and I added That also means you can share your candy!~wink~

Bronson Turns Five!

2010-02-14T08:50:00.004-07:00

Today is Bronson's birthday. He is five. I can't believe it has been five years since I was pregnant and having our last baby! I am so glad we ended up having a boy! I was petrified to have one and it was no problem at all. I loved him instantly and he has grown on me every day since!
For the last few weeks Bronson has come into our room every morning and ask how many more days until his birthday. We have been counting down the days and this morning he came in and asked us again. We said it was today and he got so excited! He went to wake up the girls (GRRR) and tell them it was here!
He got breakfast burritos with sausage (a very important detail) for breakfast. And after church he got tuna sandwiches for dinner. This was his menu for the day. He is so funny, but I wasn't complaining. It was easy! We invited family over for a little party and had cake and ice cream. He wanted a kung fu cake which I thought was impossible but found the toys to put on top. He got some new "Land Before Time" dvds and a new dinosaur toy or two. Grandma got him some roller blades so now he can keep up with the girls!
He is so smart and really loves life. You can tell because he rarely settles down. He is always bounding into one room from another. He sings and dances and enjoys himself immensely! We are thrilled to have him. We can't wait for what's next!
Happy 5th Birthday Bronson! We love you!
I will take a pic of him soon to post with this post...unfortunately I didn't take any pics on his birthday!

What'd You Say???

2010-02-13T09:59:00.004-07:00

When I was in high school, my dad bought a car for me to drive. At some point after that he put a really nice stereo in it; which was totally awesome! Both my sister and I loved that surprise. I don't remember before the stereo but I know after we got it I blasted my music when I was in that car. And I would look for excuses to go out and drive it so I could blast my music. I listened to mostly the rock and hard rock stations too so it was pretty head rattling!

Also in high school, I noticed that my hearing was a little off. Sometimes I couldn't hear what people were saying. Or it was muffled. Well, first off I was never going to admit that to anyone and second I was not going to stop playing my music so loudly either. So I ignored it.

When I was filling out my mission paperwork, I noted that I had some weak hearing in my left ear. This was the only time I had ever said anything about it and I never pointed it out to anyone who looked over my paperwork. I did get a mission call to go work with the Deaf which was just convenient. But I don't think my comment about my ear was the reason for the call.

Fast forward to now, I have the same problem. I wouldn't say it is worse than in high school, but I do find it very inconvenient and annoying always having to turn my head to hear or making people repeat what they said more than once (or twice or three times~seriously, just ask my family).

When I turned 35 I decided I should grow up and own up to this issue and I made an appointment with an audiologist. Last week I went to see him and be tested. I was finally coming to terms with the possibility of having to get a hearing aid. After he tested my hearing he asked me, "What makes you think you have a hearing loss?" I said, "I can't hear what people say and I have to turn my head or have people repeat themselves and is sounds muffled."

So he took my into another room and told me that my hearing was fine. I passed with both ears. But he did another test in this new room and discovered that I have a developmental something-or-other that makes processing language coming into my left ear difficult. Somewhere in the wiring of my brain where the nerves from the ear send messages to the language part of the brain I have some developmental issues! If I was five and was finding this out, I could have therapy which could help me correct the problem. But since I am 35, I get to deal with it the same way I have been for, oh about 20 years! Nice. I don't need to get fitted for a hearing aid though so it ain't all bad news!

A Redneck Love Poem

2010-02-10T10:33:00.003-07:00

Susie Lee done fell in love,
She planned to marry Joe.
She was so happy 'bout it all,
She told her Pappy so.

Pappy told her, Susie gal,
You'll have to find another,
I'd just as soon yo' ma don't know
But Joe is yo' half brother.

So Susie put aside her Joe
And planned to marry Will.
But after telling Pappy this
He said, There's trouble still.

Yo' can't marry Will, my gal,
And please don't tell yo' mother.
But Will and Joe and several mo'
I know is yo' half brother.

But Mama knew and said, my child,
Just do what makes yo' happy.
Marry Will or marry Joe,
Yo' ain't no kin to Pappy.

HAPPY FEBRUARY!

~sigh~

2010-02-02T12:14:00.002-07:00

Its been about 2 weeks since I last posted...I haven't much to say. Life seems to have come to a halt after the holidays. Hopefully something soon will be exciting enough to blog about! Here's hoping!~wink~

I Like Things To Match...

2010-01-18T16:47:00.002-07:00

Well since we are on this whole home improvement kick, I thought I would post about what's new in my living room.

We have had these faux wood blinds in the kitchen and family room since shortly after we moved in. I like how they look and they require minimal care. (Yes, I do dust them about twice a year.)So I put Jeff to work this morning...after I tried on my own to get some of the screws to go in...I just don't have the strength behind the torque that he does!And now my living room window matches my kitchen and family room windows.

I think we have met our home improvement quota for the year already!

The Successful Saga Of The Water Heater!

2010-01-16T12:37:00.013-07:00

Have you ever started something that was supposed to be simple and it turned out to be oh~so~much~more~complicated????
That would be how our life was this last week.
We were losing our hot water and fast. For two weeks we had been taking very short showers and doing our dishes in small loads. Everything else like washing hands and faces etc...was done with COLD water. I had continued doing laundry but had piled up the white load to very high and wasn't sure if we would need to use a laundry mat for it.
Monday we decided to attack the problem head on. We first had to take the water heater out of the house to drain it as we could not get the drain at the bottom to work using a hose. (Apparently sediment can build up down there and clog the drain; which is what happened.) And before we could take the water heater out of the house we had to remove a cabinet above the washer and dryer because it was hung too low to just be able to slide it under. If the water heater had been empty, we could have tilted it but we couldn't empty it with the hose because of the sediment build~up. After we got it out of the house, Jeff ended up pouring the water out from the element opening and tons of sediment came spilling out as well. This took at least an hour before we just decided to go and buy the new element. The guy told us that if one was bad the other one was probably the same or worse. We bought two elements and a big wrench thingy to screw and unscrew them!
When we got home, we checked the other element and it looked about the same as the first element, we replaced both and brought the water heater back inside and filled it up with water again. After some time, we tried the water and it was still cold. Jeff headed out to ACE again (it was almost closing time by now) to buy a new thermostat and hoped that would fix it.
Not so. Monday night I showered at my parents house because I had a chiropractic appointment on Tuesday morning.
Tuesday morning after my appointment we decided to buy a new water heater. We returned the elements and thermostat to ACE and picked up the exact same water heater (which only time will tell if that was a smart move or not) and headed home to start again.
In the mean time, I decided that since everything was already moved out of the laundry area and wouldn't be put back real soon, I should go ahead and repaint the space a new color since I was having difficulty accepting the red we had put up last year! Of course, Jeff thought I was crazy and wanted me to focus on the problem at hand, but I persisted and got to buy my paint at Home Depot.
I painted quickly and had the fans drying it while Jeff planned out the entire installation of the new water heater. When it came time to install the new one, we had some help and it went pretty well. Just one more trip to ACE to get a new tube that was long enough. We screwed everything in and hooked everything up and turned everything on and waited.
Nothing. We still had cold water coming out of the faucets.
Okay so now we were thinking it had to be an electrical problem which we know nothing about (although we also know nothing about plumbing and have managed thus far). We were getting concerned about the cost involving hiring an electrician.
I posted on Facebook about being discouraged and not knowing what the heck was going on etc...and we got some replies back from people who are knowledgeable in the area. I chatted with an old college friend who does home improvement stuff. While Jeff got on the phone with one of my old high school friends who now owns a Mr. Rooter business in Washington state. CRAZY! I still can't believe how inspired I must have been to post that complaint and receive the exact help we needed. And people say Facebook is a waste of time! Ha
Realize that this is going on a 10:00 at night and we are just hoping that any information will bring us closer to an answer tomorrow.
It was determined by Jeff and Shay on the phone that the breaker for the water heater must be busted.
Wednesday morning, Jeff woke up and went to Home Depot. He bought a voltage meter which told us that the breaker was not giving enough power to the water heater in the first place. This meant that we could have probably gotten away with replacing the breaker before anything else and that would have solved the whole problem. Jeff bought a new breaker, installed it and the water heater kicked on immediately. We decided to keep the new water heater (and not take everything out for the third time just to save a few hundred bucks that might buy us another year at best with the old one). You understand, right?
After a little while we had hot water again. Yay! For the first time in a few weeks, we could take a 10 minutes shower if we wanted.
In the mean time I learned that: its not the temperature of the water that gets things clean, its the friction; dishes can be washed in mildly warm water (I microwaved water in bowls to wash the dishes); and that kids get dirty much faster when there is less chance of a bath!
I am also THANKFUL to say the least for the help we received from Shaylin King over the phone and also from my Uncle Jon who has had a lot of experience in replacing water heaters. And from Dad who came over to help (and also Mom who let me use her shower several times). We lived in Colorado for many years without family real close by. Tuesday night as we sat eating our dinner with my parents and Uncle Jon (still not knowing what the problem might be with the new water heater not working) I kept thinking how happy I was to live near family and to be able to call on them when we need them for help. In fact, through this whole ordeal (since it started a few weeks ago) I never felt helpless; as I might have in Colorado if this had happened there.
As it turns out the Visiting Teaching Message for this month happens to be about being self reliant. I feel very good about what we were able to accomplish and that we were following a simple principle of the gospel to boot!

That Kid, He Cracks Me Up!!!!!

2010-01-08T21:56:00.005-07:00

Okay, so in order to tell the funny part of this story, I have to give some detail on what leads up to the funny...you have been warned. I will try to be short. (stop laughing)

So Bronson and I were bored yesterday and decided to go visit Grandpa before picking up the girls from school. When we got there we knocked and waited for him to come to the door. After a few minutes we let ourselves in. I looked around and couldn't find Dad anywhere and thought we should just go home. Bronson wanted to look a little more thoroughly. So we looked in each bedroom, one bathroom (the one I was sure he wouldn't be using), in the garage, etc. Then I said we should go out and look in his office. I could see from the kitchen window to the office and didn't see any lights on. As we were heading out to the office, I noticed that the back door was locked (both the dead bolt and the door knob) I figured Dad wasn't out in the office if the door was locked as such...

I said, "Grandpa isn't out in the office. Lets go home."
Bronson said, "What? How do you know? Do you have X-rated vision?"
ba dum bum ching

Thats why we keep him around folks!

2010 Resolutions...

2010-01-01T20:09:00.005-07:00

Previously, I have not posted my resolutions on here to keep them private, but I think this year I am going to post them in an attempt to be more accountable to them. We'll see how it goes. I am not perfect, people. But I do want to try to be better.

Everyone always starts with the PHYSICAL:
lose 13 pounds
develop better sleeping habits
continue to see the Chiropractor
no soda
find a good ENT Dr.
my brother-in-law, Chris, told me to resolve NOT to get a black eye this year! see below
And of course the SPIRITUAL:
work on a more consistent scripture study routine
be better prepared for my Sunday school lesson each week
attend the temple often
make sure I get to interpret at the temple dedication in May!
listen to church music on Sundays

On to SOCIAL:
go on some dates with Jeff!
blog!

Something in the INTELLECTUAL category:
possibly take a class at EAC after Bronson starts kindergarten
continue to participate in my book clubs

The almost always impossible FINANCIAL:
save money for a down payment on a quilting machine!!!
cancel my cel phone and put that money aside
save money for a new big screen (pay cash)

And last but not least FAMILY:
have Family Home Evening more regularly
continue more faithfully with our family scripture study
take more pictures ~ Kaitlyn's
go swimming in the summer ~ Madelyn's
go hunting ~ Bronson's

Well that's it folks! We'll see how it goes!

My New Kitchen!

2009-12-28T10:26:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago our kitchen faucet started leaking pretty badly. (It has actually leaked a little ever since we moved in but we were just living with it.) We decided that it was time to go ahead and get a new faucet. It took some convincing for Jeff to agree that it was smarter to replace the sink (which I also hated) and the counter tops (which I double hated!) at the same time rather than to replace the faucet now and later have to replace the sink and again later to replace the counter tops.

Our plan was to get some black Formica counter tops at the Home Depot and just basically switch them out. Well, HD doesn't cut the counter tops for us here and we couldn't freehand that large cut which had to be perfect, so we took them back and ended up with granite tile counter tops that cost less than the Formica. Nice! Well, that simple switching out of the counter tops turned into something much bigger, but the result is so much more worth it than it would have been with the Formica. I feel guilty that I arrange these projects for my husband (and brother-in-law and brothers) to do without knowing the real labor behind it. They were all very cooperative and helpful without complaints (at least to my face)!

Thank you so much (again) to Justin and Jeff who slaved away until this was perfect. Also thank you to Kenny, Danny, Dad and Jon who helped out a ton too! Our kitchen is YOUR kitchen. You are welcome any time and we hope you come over often.

One Year Later!

2009-12-27T18:18:00.003-07:00

One year ago today Kaitlyn took her first growth hormone shot. We took her picture next to the kitchen and measured her on the wall. I think this is the best way to show the difference in her height.

You can see the results here and they are fantastic. She has grown so much and continues to grow. We hope this will continue for as long as is needed for her. We are so grateful for the opportunity we have to be able to offer this to her.

Christmas Letter 2009!

2009-12-24T22:01:00.004-07:00

We have decided to post our Christmas letter again on the blog to reach more friends. We have sent out a few hard copies to mostly family members. We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!Dear Family and Friends, December 13, 2009

I am so happy that it is once again that time of year to sit down and reflect on our year. We have truly been blessed this year and hope that you have too!

Our year started out rocky with us not knowing if Jeff’s employment with Freeport McMoRan Inc. would continue. Due to the economy, they were reportedly laying off 50% of the workforce at the mine where he works. His longevity with them put him in a possible range to be laid off. Fortunately though, for him (and for us) they looked at employee performance and determined that Jeff was valuable enough to keep! We are definitely grateful for that acknowledgement whether it was implied or otherwise! We are grateful for the hard work he puts in for us to be able to enjoy our life. Jeff was also put in as a counselor in our Elders Quorum at church recently. And hunting was a bust for all involved this year despite the amount of scouting and effort put into it. Shucks!
Monica is still a part time teacher at EAC. She is also still a full time mom and homemaker! One thing that did change for her this year was that she was released from her Primary calling at church. She has/had worked with the Primary kids for more than eight years of the ten we have been married. It was strange at first but she is used to it now. Her new calling has her teaching the 13 & 14 year olds in Sunday school. What a change that is…she might actually miss the calm, mellow, non-hormonal Primary age!
Kaitlyn is in fourth grade now. She turned nine in April and is definitely growing up. There is just something a little older about her. She is a little sassy but not in a bad way. And she carries herself differently. I don’t know. She has been taking her growth hormone shots for almost one year now and has reportedly grown more than four inches. We are thrilled they have taken so well with her body and she is catching up on some needed growth.
Madelyn is in first grade now. She turned six in March and has enjoyed learning how to read. She does very well at it too; like her older sister. We are grateful for her enthusiasm for learning and hope it continues. At her parent/teacher conference her teacher just went on and on about how she is leading her class. Madelyn informed me this fall that she thinks she is too old for the Disney princesses now and just likes Barbie! Good to know, right?!
Bronson is still home with Monica and will go to kindergarten next fall. He turned four in February and has transitioned from a baby stage to a little boy stage. We are enjoying it a lot. His best attribute right now is one of humor and entertainment. The things he says have all of us rolling on the floor! I don’t know where he gets it, but we hope it sticks!

Well, that’s our year in a nutshell. Of course, at this time of year we are most grateful for the divine life and love of our Elder Brother and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is because of Him that we have true happiness in this life. May all of you be blessed with true happiness too!

With love,
The Hatches!

Christmastime At School!

2009-12-18T19:49:00.005-07:00

The girls have been having some fun this past week at school. I remember when I was little I used to love the week before Christmas break because we would basically party the whole time! Well, it has been no different for our girls.

Madelyn had a musical performance on Wednesday and Thursday in which she had to dress "country." The first grade sang four songs including "If I Had A Pony For Christmas" and "Feliz Navidad." It was very cute. We had some pink boots and Jeff bought her a red cowgirl hat. I thought for sure she would have to go to school looking so mismatched until I found the perfect pink & red plaid shirt; perfect for the country theme. Yay! She looked adorable, of course! And I discovered during her performance that the girl has rhythm! Who knew?!

At the end of the performance everybody signed and sang the songs "Silent Night" and "Stars of Night" both of which were religiously themed. It was nice to be able to have that in the program as well as the Santa Claus/Rudolph stuff.

Kaitlyn was invited to a "Polar Express Night" at her classroom. This took place Thursday night from 6:00-8:00. The kids wore their pajamas and had a blast playing games after hours at the school. Her teacher said it was to reward the kids for working so hard and doing so well. And to give them incentive to continue! I love her! She is wonderful! They played basketball in the gym, then had a snowball fight (with paper snowballs), drank hot chocolate, played some card games and sang Karaoke! Fun! I am sure she will remember this for a long time!

Thanks to all the teachers who put in so much effort for our kids! We are also thankful that we are still able to celebrate Christmas Break and have Christmas activities.

So Cute!

2009-12-14T17:59:00.004-07:00

Several week ago my kids started asking us if they could write letters to Santa. Half~hearted, I finally let them and didn't really supervise anything. Not too long after, the kids came to me with a sealed envelope. They said that they had each written their letter to Santa and had put it inside and it was ready to send. Kaitlyn had even addressed it and somehow convinced Jeff to give her a stamp. It truly was ready to go! I made them put it on the piano to wait until I could somehow figure out what they had written down etc... A couple days later they had written all new letters and sealed them up in a new envelope and Kaitlyn had put a rubber stamp in the corner this time. So I was looking it over and went to the piano to get the other one and it was nowhere to be seen.
hmmmm
I asked the kids and none of them knew where it was. At the time we were heading out to school so we went outside and Kaitlyn made a bee line for the mail box and put the other letter inside. I thought Great! Now we have one without a a real stamp in the mail and another one with a real stamp MIA! Jeff and I have no idea what was written on either of these sets of letters.

Today Kaitlyn go a letter in the mail. The return address simply stated "Santa." No way! When we picked her up from school she opened it up to find a letter from Santa addressing her letters to him! (When Kaitlyn had addressed the envelopes she only put her name in the return address area even though they all had individual letters inside.) I just have to say that that is seriously one of the cutest things that has ever happened here! I am just thrilled. Me! Not to mention the kids!

Here is what the letter said:

North Pole

Dear Kaitlyn,

Thank you for your letter. Mrs. Claus and I love to get letters from all good boys and girls.

Things are very busy here at the North Pole. My elves are working night and day to get ready for Christmas. They are taking lots of hot chocolate and cookie breaks to keep them going. Rudolph is helping the other reindeer to shine their antlers and get ready for the big night. I hope it snows...

My goodness! What are you going to do with 3 pair of ice skates? You can only wear 1 pair at a time you know. We'll see what Santa can find in his bag for you.

Remember to be good and be nice to your family and be sure and help Bronson. I mustn't forget about Maddie either.

Love,

Santa

I Seriously Need To Post!

2009-12-11T16:18:00.008-07:00

We have been pretty busy around here doing different things. I noticed I never posted about Thanksgiving, so I should probably start there.
Thanksgiving was great! We went to Mom and Dad's, of course. They had all the other Crockett's over: my Uncle Jon and Aunt Leslie and their kids Kendra and Monty (and their kids)and Kensey and Kade. Plus Grandma Crockett and Aunt Virginia and Aunt Kim were there too. None of my brothers or sister came with their families because they are all coming for Christmas, but we live locally so we got to see all the cousins. It was great. The food rocked!Jeff said it was okay for me to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving in Mesa with my sister, Megan. This is HUGE since I actually had a deer tag that started that day. But luckily, so did my dad and Jeff was able to live vicariously through Dad the first day of the hunt! Jeff did not have a deer tag this year. Megan and I did not brave the crowds early in the morning. We waited to leave until all the sales were actually going on and still had to weave in and out of traffic on the roads and in the stores. We had fun and were very tired at the end of the day. No pictures of this though (I can't ruin any surprises we might have!)
The week after Thanksgiving Jeff took off work so he could help Dad and me with our hunts. truth be told, if it were not for Jeff both of us might have thrown in the towel on day one! Sadly though, neither of us filled our tag. We didn't even see anything. Not a thing! I won't be putting in for the hunt next year! I bet Dad won't either. Sorry Jeff! December 1st someone called and came over to look at our piano; which we have been trying to sell. It was too big for our house and we didn't use it as much as we should have. This guy was sold at first sight. He wanted to get it for his wife for their anniversary (I totally know, right). Tuesday they brought a crew of about five guys and loaded it up and hauled it away. We no longer have the piano; which is sad, but it went to a nice family (who turned out to be cousins of ours) and who will use it and I have more space in my front room again. We saved the money and will use it in the future for an upright piano; which takes up less space.Also the week after Thanksgiving was my 35th birthday! Yay! I know. Well, aside from going hunting in the morning and getting tired and sore from that, it was a great day. We went out to lunch. Jeff took me to a movie and Mom and Dad watched the kids. Then we had red velvet birthday cake after and Jeff gave me my gift: Bones season 4 on BLU-RAY! I guess that means we are getting a blu-ray player for Christmas! I can't wait for all the extra special features etc. Thanks Jeffie! Mom, also got me a new temple dress since our new temple here will not have clothing rental as an option. I am excited to use it soon. My Grandma Crockett also crocheted me a "Grand-daughter Doily" which is beautiful! I love it! Thanks Grandma!

The day after my birthday (Friday), we decided not to send the girls to school and went down to Mesa for another weekend of shopping and fun with the kids. We actually had a surprise for the girls. We took them ice skating at a place in Gilbert. They had no idea and were adorable when we told them. We stopped by Megan's house first to pick her and her daughter up to join us. It was a great girly activity. They all actually did a great job picking it up. I thought we would come home with more bruises than we did! There was an ulterior motive for this activity...the girls have been obsessing about ice skating for a couple months now. They have asked for nothing but ice skates and the movie Ice Princess for Christmas and have not stopped talking about it in the longest time since Adam. So I thought that if they experienced how hard it was and got a taste of it they would pipe down and think of something else to ask for. Total backfire!They loved it and did very well. They did agree that since our backyard is mostly concrete it might be better to get some roller blades and occasionally go to the place in Gilbert for some ice skating, but that thought was also fleeting. We will see what happens on Christmas morning!While we were in town, Megan's ward was having their Christmas party so we crashed it with them and had some good breakfast. Not too many wards have their Christmas party at 8:00am. I thought it was great! The entertainment was also awesome!We also did a little more Christmas shopping while we were there and I got to go to Toby Keith's new restaurant for my birthday! Woohoo! It was exactly what you would expect for a bar and grill and I was not disappointed. The food was good and now I can check that off of my to-do list! This week has been busy. I am trying to finish up my Christmas crafts and quilts. Plus trying to get the last of the shopping done. I am excited for Christmas coming up and look forward to some relaxation as well. Sorry about the long post but now you know where I have been! Pictures coming soon!

A Lifetime Of Gratitude...

2009-11-27T20:50:00.004-07:00

Thanksgiving pictures will arrive soon:

Yesterday was Thanksgiving 2009. It was a wonderful and peaceful day. But what I want to post about is from Sunday in Relief Society.

We have the BEST "musical moment" sister ever! Every week she takes us on an adventure of learning involving music and the gospel and life! I happen to love her just a little bit extra because we were visiting teaching partners for two years! She is in her eighties (I think!) and is as vivacious as the day is long!

This past Sunday in anticipation of Thanksgiving, her "moment" involved the Thanksgiving hymn (I am not sure what the actual title is) "For health and strength and daily bread..." We sang it as a round in Primary long ago. I am not sure how much it is sung these days. Her point was that in this hymn we give thanks for three things: health, strength and daily bread. She had come up with more for her list and made a second and third verse. We were to guess the things she decided were important enough to make it into the song. I guessed family which was one and the other two were life and home. The third verse she made up included being grateful for knowledge and for truth and right; because truth alone isn't always good. Some truths can still be harmful, so she added "right".

Then she said that this list can be added unto by each of us for the rest of our lives. Each time we are stuck in a red light or at a stop sign or are waiting in a Dr.'s office we can be thinking of more things that we can be grateful for and add them to our song. As simple as this is, at the moment it was profound! Thank you so much Sister Wheeler for your dedication to your calling and your wonderful thoughts and wisdom!

For health and strength and daily bread,
We praise thy name, oh, Lord!

For life and home and family,
We praise thy name, oh, Lord!

For knowledge and for truth and right,
We praise thy name, oh, Lord!

New Dresser!

2009-11-13T09:48:00.003-07:00

After re~painting the girls' room and making it actually look good. I decided to keep going with one of their dressers. I got this dresser at a Habitat For Humanity shop in Colorado several years ago. I painted it bright pink for the girls and it has served us well. I even spray painted little palm trees to match a comforter I made for them. I decided the pink was no longer right for the room and it needed a makeover. Since everything else in the room was matching pink or green I went with just plain white. This will also make it easier to move around if we ever get new dressers for the girls.
First I had to strip all the paint off. I used a paint thinner and a scraper. It went well; except for the dresser top where I had spray painted. The spray paint apparently made a seal for the underneath paint and it was difficult to remove and even sand down. There were small raised spaces where each palm tree had been. After a while I was satisfied enough to move on.I love how the paint bubbles up with the thinner doing its work!All scraped off. Well, mostly! I even filled in the holes from the hardware so I could get rid of the drawer pulls that we had. They were annoying to me. I can't explain it!A coat of Primer to make sure the underneath madness doesn't start seeping through. I even decided to paint the back white just for more finished look. All the white splotches you see on the sides are where I had accidentally gotten pink paint from the last time. So I covered it up as to destroy all evidence of the previous dresser!

I bought some new hardware and moved it in. I am happy with it. This is a very well built dresser. I am happy that I was able to find it when I did.

And to top it off I found a perfect headboard on clearance at the furniture store and brought it home to complete the room!

Of course, wouldn't you know it...Last week I was driving around town and a woman had a bunch of furniture out in her front yard. I stopped and she had a matching dresser to the other dresser the girls have in their room. It would have been perfect to bring home and I could use this white one for something else. But the insane woman wanted $100 for it. It is OLD. I had dressers exactly like these when I was about four years old. And they were not new when I had them! Hello lady, get some sense! I did not buy it. After all we have a perfectly good dresser!

I might go check the thrift stores in town later today to see if she just donated it somewhere! shhh

Book Club!

2009-11-12T19:40:00.003-07:00

For an updated Halloween post click here!

Yesterday I had book club at my house again. This time we read "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain... Well, some of us read it. Most of us had not finished it yet. Either because it was hard to get into or because they were reading something else that they couldn't put down. I am one guilty of not getting into it, though I have enjoyed what I have read. Mark Twain has a great style to his writing. I am hoping to finish it before next week when my Mom's book club (that I also go to) meets to discuss "Tom Sawyer"!!!I also made this yummy dessert for the club. I always try something new when people are coming over. It turned out really good. It is basically a giant snowball: chocolate cake with a cream cheese filling with pudding frosting and coconut topping. I am excited to make it again for another occasion. It was a big hit.
We also fed the missionaries last night after book club. Jeff made the soup recipe that I posted not too long ago and we served them the same cake. They loved it all. Thanks, Jeff for taking care of dinner while I chatted with my ladies!

Its Unanimous!

2009-11-08T21:42:00.004-07:00

Well, you all should be very proud of me because I have kept my mouth shut about this and not told a soul! Today Jeff was put into the Elders Quorum Presidency as 2nd Counselor. Apparently all his checking in on people who don't come and making phone calls to invite people to activities has landed him in the hot seat! I think this will be great for him. He has been saying that he doesn't really know many people in the ward. This will be the perfect opportunity for him to meet and get to know as many as possible. He will be away from home more often when they have visits to make but I think we will be blessed for it as well. "Yay Jeff" for being worthy and willing to serve! We love you and know you will be awesome!

Also today was our Primary Presentation program...it was really good. I am proud to say that Bronson and Madelyn had their lines memorized and said them perfectly clearly. Kaitlyn also had hers memorized but opted to read hers at the pulpit. What do you do? She was also very eloquent. The nicest thing about the program today was that I was not in charge of it! haha I just sat there and enjoyed it. One Sunbeam in particular was great for entertainment's sake. She knew all the words to the songs and could sing on key (always a bonus) and she would belt it out on every song! You could hear her above all the others. Thanks Adelynn for your dedication! I love "good church" days! haha

She Keeps Growing

2009-11-04T12:43:00.002-07:00

Kaitlyn had another Dr.'s appointment in Mesa last week and she has grown another inch (plus) since July! That makes more than four inches for the year. I am so glad these shots are working for her and that she is catching up on some much needed growth. It looks like we should be able to do these shots for several more years based on her growth plates and bone age...That will be great to get her as "tall" as we can!
The Dr. did notice that she has uneven hips and took a closer look at her legs. We discovered that Kaitlyn has one leg that is longer than the other; only by about half an inch though. We need to bring it up with the regular Dr. sometime and then maybe see an orthopaedic Dr. to talk about getting a lift for her shoe and any other possibilities.
We really like her Endocrinologist. He seems just right to work with kids and help them with their issues without making them feel different. Kaitlyn, I think, likes him too; which is good since she will be seeing him probably until she is about 18!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T09:17:00.002-07:00

This year for Halloween, my mom put on a carnival for all the grand kids. We had done one about six years ago when there were about half as many kids and it was fun. Since it was on a Saturday everyone was able to make it over for the weekend. It was a lot of fun!

First, Madelyn went to school that Friday for all the festivities. Kaitlyn was actually sick that day and missed everything. Don't you hate it when that happens?! We are lucky enough to be able to have actual Halloween parties at our school. I guess in many areas they call it Fall Festival and keep it on the politically correct side of things. We have a parade with all the kids dressed up and teachers as well. Everyone participates! I love that!

Saturday, at Mom's, there were so many activities to do. We had carving pumpkins, painting pumpkins*, a doughnut eating contest*, a bean bag throw (into the giant jack-o-lantern)*,
check out my skeleton hands fingerspelled shirt!
making popcorn skeleton hands,

a "fish pond"*, a pinata,

a costume fashion show,

Yes, that is me in the bunny costume and would you believe I went around the whole neighborhood like that???
and a haunted house!

Not to mention the prizes that went with each activity! It was crazy fun for everyone and at the end of the day we had dinner in a pumpkin and a bunch of other delicious food. Followed by trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. It was a great day of fun with family and smiles all around. Happy Halloween everyone!
* for activities I did not take pictures of...I need to get those photos from Megan and Mitch!

Okay, One More!

2009-10-26T16:09:00.003-07:00

Last night in our Family Home Evening everyone was saying something they liked about another person. There was no rhyme or reason to this and most comments were along the lines of "I like Madelyn because she helps me clean or because she plays with me." Bronson was called upon to say something he liked about Daddy. Bronson in all seriousness said, "I love Daddy because he doesn't punch me in the face."
And the winner of the Funniest~Kid~In~Town~Award goes to...(rum roll) Bronson Ryder Hatch! That kid cracks us up!

Sunbeam Moments!

2009-10-25T15:16:00.004-07:00

Today Bronson gave his first talk in Primary. He was so cute this morning getting ready. We put his suit coat on him and combed his hair extra nice! He seemed to know it was all for his presentation! When the time came for him to go up, Jeff went with him to help. Jeff would whisper what to say in his ear and Bronson said it exactly how we practiced at home. Then I saw that Jeff would whisper in his ear and Bronson would whisper back to him and they would go back and forth a few times before Bronson would actually say his next line. After church I asked Jeff what was going on when Bronson was whispering back to him...He said that Bronson was telling him that he didn't want to say that part right now! Luckily, I guess, Jeff won that argument because he gave the rest of his talk exactly as it was planned out! He is so funny! We love all the crazy, funny things he says all the time! Good job, Bronson on your first Primary talk!
(Picture coming soon!)

Kids, Kids, Kids...

2009-10-24T15:55:00.003-07:00

Here are some funny conversations I have had with the kids recently:

1)
Madelyn this morning after eating breakfast (she's always hungry right after eating): Mom, am I allergic to {sneakers}?
Me: (thinking~what could she be talking about?...oh!) You mean Snickers??? Yes, you are allergic.

2)
Bronson (after I told the kids they could watch a movie): Mom, I wanna watch "Sweeper By The Dozen"!
Me: We don't have that movie. We have "Cheaper By The Dozen"!

3)
I took the kids to EAC to watch a drama production of "The Emperor's New Clothes." Right after the new clothes were revealed ...
Madelyn: (with wonder) They're invisible!
Bronson: (with practicality) Its just a hanger!

Quilts...

2009-10-22T20:09:00.004-07:00

I finished this quilt today. I started it probably sometime in September and put it away for a while. Today all I had to do was add the borders. It wasn't hard, but time consuming. I used a jellyroll that I bought at Walmart. It was a bunch of assorted batik fabrics (already cut into 2 1/2 inch strips). I normally stay away from fabrics like batiks just because they are not my favorite look. But I was branching out. I had to decide on a pattern that used strips since that part was done for me; and when I saw this one I went with it because I have done this pattern before and knew exactly what to do. I ended up picking out a background fabric which I thought worked nicely with the other colors in the batiks. I think it looks yummy! If I were the kind of person who names her quilts I might call this one: Confetti Cake or Tutti Fruity !!!
What do you think???

Happy Birthday Dear Gwenny!

2009-10-21T16:45:00.005-07:00

Today is my sister-in-law, Gwen's, birthday. We are very excited to celebrate this today as it has been a long time since we have had cake. Luckily, Dad made some cake in her honor and we participated in eating it. Yay! We hope your day is as great as you are! Oh and the kids sang you a song too! (Again I apologize for their lacking musical skills!)

Since Hunting Season Is Upon Us!

2009-10-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

This is seriously cool. Enjoy!

My New Kitchen Bling!!!

2009-10-15T15:33:00.003-07:00

In April, we had the opportunity to have a home demonstration for Salad Master where we learned about some seriously great cookware. This cookware has proven to improve peoples' overall physical health as well as to help people lose weight and eat less and more healthily in general. We loved it but could not afford to buy a new set of pans at the time. We made an unspoken decision to work on saving some money to buy some in the future. In the mean time, we have been using our "poison pots" as I dubbed them after hearing about the many health hazards associated with copper, Teflon and a aluminum pot ware!Not long ago I was talking with my good friend who happens to sell these pots and she mentioned she was going to sell a certain set. I immediately offered to buy them from her. And Voila! We have a our new kitchen pots and pans that have a lifetime warranty and look so pretty. I love how they all nest inside each other and the handles are interchangeable. No more "poison pots" for us. And here's to some healthier eating habits. My old pots have been reduced to the camping supplies and that's if we don't just take these with us everywhere we go from now on! Thanks Sandy!

The Halloween Phantom

2009-10-13T08:56:00.003-07:00

Last night there was a knock on the door...I quickly opened it to find no one. Looking down I noticed a plate of yummy brownies with a note attached. Hmmm...peculiar! Looking up and down the street I saw no running shadows or car lights fading away. Happily, I picked up the plate and brought it inside to read the note to the kids and decide who we will leave some goodies with tonight. What a fun surprise!Oh, and the brownies were delicious!
Photo courtesy of bakersbakery.wordpress.com

While The Cat's Away....

2009-10-12T16:41:00.004-07:00

Since it was a four day weekend for the kids and Jeff is on his seven days off right now, he took the kids camping overnight Friday.

I didn't go because I have already been camping twice this year and I am done until about 2018. So I stayed behind.

They had tons of fun and got to go hiking and shooting.

And spend time with Daddy! He loves spending time with the kids too so everyone was happy!

While Jeff was gone with the kids I took full advantage and decided to re~paint the girls' room. Not too long ago I moved their furniture around and noticed how nasty looking their paint looked. This is because when we first moved in I just hurriedly threw paint on all the walls.

He took the camera with him so I didn't take any "before" shots...but I found one we already had. Don't look too closely at the terrible paint job but you get the idea!

Here is an "after" shot with the shelf I bought at a yard sale for $5. I am glad I was able to incorporate it into the room.

I picked out the paint colors to match this comforter set on their bed. Normally I wouldn't pick out a green...but it matched and I do like it!

I love it when everything is uncluttered...too bad that won't last beyond tonight!

AND my favorite touch: I took down the ceiling fan blades to clean them off and decided to try out some decoupaging...I actually found both of these fabrics in my stash and easily cut them out and glued them on. I think it makes the room just that much cuter!

I'm On Sabbatical!

2009-10-08T23:24:00.003-07:00

Okay, okay so I know that I posted almost everyday last week and now it has been a week since I last posted. I have one of those personalities where I binge and purge...So last week I binged and this week...well, you know!
Tonight I went to the quilt guild meeting with my mom. I only get to go a couple times a year because it is on the same night as one of my classes. It was awesome to see so many quilts made by the others. (No! I haven't made~or finished~any of my own to show off~psshhhh!) I love getting ideas for new things to make. I took some pictures with my phone and I need to figure out how to upload them.

I Love My Family!

2009-09-27T20:44:00.002-07:00

Kaitlyn had an achievement day activity this week and they put together a family home evening packet. She was so excited to come home and give us her lesson. Since Jeff was off today we went ahead and had it today. This will be the third week in a row that we have had family home evening. That's a pretty good record for us!The lesson was on Temples. She did a great job and we felt the spirit as she taught us. I am so grateful for my family. That we have been sealed to each other and that not even death can separate us. I love them. I want to be with them; here on this earth and everything beyond this life as well. They are my joy. I am blessed to be a part of this family and to know these choice children of our Heavenly Father. I also love my husband more than words can say. I do not know what I would do without him here next to me. We are meant to be together! Today I am counting the blessings I have in this little family of mine. I am forever grateful for them!

Mom's Old Dress!

2009-09-27T20:40:00.004-07:00

In all the sorting out of things for the yard sale I found one dress [from when I was little] that looked like Kaitlyn could wear. I saved it and brought it out this morning. She loved it and thought it was beautiful. Here she is ready for church in Mom's old dress.

Babies Are So Sweet!

2009-09-26T21:50:00.002-07:00

I got to hold this little guy today....I could not get enough! He is adorable. Thanks, Kendra, for letting me cuddle for a while!

Its Time For A Yard Sale!

2009-09-25T16:06:00.003-07:00

Remember when I was going through all the kids stuff??? Well, that turned into the entire house getting an overhaul. AND that turned into...Me deciding to have a yard sale tomorrow. Might as well try to make some dough off this stuff we don't use anymore, right?The thing is: I don't do complicated. So, with the exception of a couple things from the garage, everything is priced at $1. That should make things pretty simple for me. Tomorrow morning from 8-11 the fun will go down and you can come find any of these things on tables or in boxes for $1 each...Afterwards, you can find them at the thrift stores in town for more than $1 each!

Bulldog Blue Day!

2009-09-25T16:01:00.002-07:00

And finally its Friday which means Bulldog Blue Day...I forgot to take their picture this morning so here they are after school in their "live Blue" shirts. These girls are so funny and cute when it comes to school spirit and activities. Here's hoping that the Bulldogs win their game tonight!

Crazy Hair Day!!

2009-09-24T12:20:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was Tie Dye or Neon Day at school. Well, we don't have any of that and I don't know how to make Tie Dye especially on short notice so we just went normal.
Today was CRAZY HAIR DAY!!! The girls were very excited about it and I just kind of kept going until we had these 'dos! They both loved it and were excited to go to school and see everyone elses' crazy hair too! Notice their crazy expressions to go with their crazy hair! ha ha

Angel Moroni Goes Up

2009-09-22T14:09:00.003-07:00

We got a call from Mom this morning that they were putting the Angel Moroni up on the temple right now! So I grabbed Bronson and quickly drove out there to see it. By the time we got there he was already up but here is our first view of him.Then I turned the truck around and got a closer look. This couldn't be more than 15 minutes after he was up. It was so spiritual. That may seem weird to say but the feeling there was reverent and exciting and special.When construction first started there was an announcement made for everyone to stop driving by and stopping their cars and taking pictures etc. They even added these green tarps to the fence around the site to prevent people from hanging around and getting in the way.
But this morning, there was no stopping the crowds. There were about fifty cars pulled off the road when I got there and people were walking across the highway and standing around the fence watching and taking pictures. There were even patrol cars just sitting there observing. As usual you can see the pictures of him "going up" at the official website...here. Here is one from the website taken by Nicole Lunt...It is so pretty. I loved it!

Mismatch Or Backwards Day!

2009-09-22T07:57:00.003-07:00

Well, today is another theme day for the schools. They could either do mismatched clothes or backwards clothes. Well, I really don't like mixing up outfits. I like having one shirt and one bottom that always go together...but for today I decided to "let it go." Madelyn put her shirt on backwards. I am not sure about her shorts. They also decided to share their shoes to mismatch them too! Oh and Madelyn has one high ponytail and one low ponytail. I am just gettin' ready for crazy hair day on Thursday!

It's Pajama Day!

2009-09-21T07:56:00.003-07:00

It is Homecoming Week at Safford High School. And all the other schools are getting involved by participating in the Spirit Week. Today is Pajama Day. The girls were so excited all weekend to get to wear pajamas to school. I have no idea what the school rule is about actual pajamas so I made them put on T~shirts with their bottoms. Both girls actually wear tank type tops with these but we don't want to get a call, do we? How fun!

YUM!

2009-09-20T09:06:00.005-07:00

Check out this perfection that I made this morning. Delicious!

Chocolate Chip Muffins: (in the form of a cake)

Preheat oven to 400* F

1 egg

3/4 C. milk

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 C. oil

1 tsp. salt

3 tsp. baking powder

2 C. flour

1 C. chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into greased muffin baking cups until 2/3 full. Bake at 400* F for 20 minutes

Can also be made into a cake (as seen here). Grease an 8X8" square baking dish. Pour mixture into dish and bake at 400* F for 28-30 minutes.

And while we are at it...I might as well share this recipe that I made last night.

photo from www.food.yahoo.com/recipes

Its called No Cream Creamy Broccoli Soup

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 TBSP. oil

2 cans (14.5 oz. each) chicken broth

2 C. water

2 small bunches fresh broccoli, trimmed cut into 3-inch lengths (about 4 1/2 C.)

1/2 minute Minute Premium White rice, uncooked

2 C. milk

1/4 C. Parmesan cheese

Cook and stir carrots, onion and celery in hot oil in large sauce pot on Med-High heat 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and water; stir. Bring to a boil.

Stir in broccoli and rice. Reduce heat to Med-Low; simmer 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently.

Add soup, in batches, to blender or food processor container; cover. Blend until pureed. Return soup puree to pot. Add milk and Parmesan cheese; cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Makes 8 servings. 1 cup each

Enjoy!

Tell Me...

2009-09-19T17:27:00.002-07:00

Someone, please tell me how it is that I can get rid of about two thirds of our crap and the next day it still looks like a tornado hit us...

Been Doin' Some Purgin'

2009-09-18T14:14:00.003-07:00

Well, I got sick of seeing piles of stuff and boxes of stuff everywhere and finally decided to take care of it. Plus about this time every year I start to think about what we might be getting for Christmas and where in the world everything new will go. So I am taking an aggressive approach to the potential problem and weeding out the stuff we don't use. Seriously, who needs five hundred stuffed animals? Okay really there aren't five hundred; but some of the ones seen here are from when I was eight.years.old! Now the real question is who the heck needs to save things from when they were eight??? I am sooo over it! So they get to go!The plan is to let each kid pick a couple favorite stuffed animals and the girls to each pick two dolls. The rest are history! Some might say, "But, look at all those original Cabbage Patch Dolls from circa 1984-1986..."!!! I am over it!
Also, I was going to be extra nice and let the kids pick a few more than that, but then I found a half eaten chocolate chip cookie under a bed and thought...no way! Some things really bug me.Also another question plaguing me...why do I buy stuff and never use it??? That would be the story for this pile. When my girls were babies and they had this cute little girls' room all set up and we lived in a place that was so small that I could manage it fairly easily; I had these pretty porcelain dolls set up on their dresser in a nice display. Nobody touched them but they looked cute. Like a little girls' room. Well, then we had a boy and moved into my parents' house and then into our house and somehow these ended up in storage. After going through stuff today, I don't want them back on display. So they will soon find a new home with someone else who likes to buy things for no reason. ha ha Sucker!Some of these things will be donated to people I think might want or need them more than me. These are some of the clothes I used to wear before I went to the temple and LOVED them! Alas, they were not missionary appropriate. Dang it! Now, of course, I couldn't fit one cankle~let alone leg~into anything in this pile so I will see if any YW in our ward would like some sweet, retro (read: late 1990's) and possibly (in some cases) homemade duds!

What used to be in all of these boxes seen here is now encased in the two boxes you see in front of the book shelf. The contents of the box on the far right will be donated along with much of the other stuff and I can use these boxes for other storage items.

Okay remember when I said I wonder what we might be getting for Christmas...? Don't make fun but I think this just might be Christmas for me...(giddy smile)!

Playing

2009-09-16T15:26:00.009-07:00

The kids have decided that building forts is their new favorite playtime activity. Toys no longer satisfy their attention spans; and pillows, blankets and laundry baskets are the new obsession. Check out their newest estate including: a master suite, pool and kitchen...

Seen here are Madelyn and Bronson in the pool (swimming)!

Too Many Birthdays, Too Little Time!

2009-09-10T09:03:00.005-07:00

Holy Crap! I even did a new post yesterday and didn't remember it was McKay's birthday. So here is a huge shout out to my nephew McKay who turned 5 yesterday!

We love you McKay.Isn't he just adorable???AND today is my sister's birthday. Happy birthday Megan!

This is the most recent picture I could find of you! I hope you don't mind. hee hee But then I decided to be nice and post one more of you and the family this one a frontal view of you!

Happy Birthday to you and McKay yesterday! Hope it is/was great! We will be down there tomorrow to see you!

p.s. I changed the background for you Megan! Hope you like it!

Labor Day Weekend!

2009-09-09T14:20:00.004-07:00

Well, first off I must tell you that no pictures will accompany this post as we did not take any the whole weekend. Sorry! Just boring ole me!
Friday night, Megan and her family were coming over for the long weekend so that Megan could get some help re-upholstering her old couch cushions. She does not sew! Mom and I do so we were recruited. I made dinner for everyone and decided to have Mom and Dad join us since we would be eating at their place for the rest of the weekend. I made Mexican which you can never go wrong with and it was YUMMY! We stayed up late talking of course, but still managed to get everyone ready on Saturday morning by about 9:15. Jeff and Justin took off to go shoot guns. While we took all the kids to Grandma's to start on the couch.
Well, Mom needed to do some grocery shopping before we started (remember I said we would be eating at their place the rest of the weekend??? Yeah. She had to stock up!) So we drove around looking for yard sales and other things until we all got back at the same time. Then we still needed some more notions to finish the project so after a couple more errands we actually started the cushions at about 3:00pm. Luckily at about 12:30 the boys took the kids back to our house with them so we didn't have to babysit and sew at the same time.
We finished the cushions at about 9:00pm which isn't bad considering we took out some time to make dinner too! They look great. If my sister gives me permission I will post an after picture which she sent me. But I don't have a before and she might want to post about it herself.

She said I could post the pictures here! Yay!

Sunday was church including Fast and Testimony meeting. It was a disaster. Good thing we are already members b/c I don't think any new people were converted at that sacrament meeting. Too many public service announcements and not enough testifying. I taught my Sunday school class and Megan sat in and saw the chaos that is 13 &14 year old kids! After church we went to Mom's for the rest of the day including lunch and tons of desserts.
Monday we took a little longer getting ready b/c of staying up late Sunday night talking. That and b/c Madelyn had stirred up her asthma again playing so hard and I spent most of the night checking on her and giving her nebulizer treatments.We had lunch and then Mom, Megan, my aunt Kim, and I all went to see Julie & Julia. It was sooo cute. I just loved it! I think that was the general consensus! After that Megan and her family packed up to leave and we came back to our house and got baths and cleaned up for school on Tuesday. Also I did a little cleaning up after the company. I couldn't go to bed with those (inexplicable) rocks still on my bathroom sink.
After all was said and done it was fun...

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2009-09-05T09:09:00.002-07:00

We have been waiting for this today for a very long time! haha

Grandma Armold is 60!

Yay! We wish we could be there with you but hope you know we love you tons! Hope you have a great day and eat lots of cake!

My Baby Brother Is Twenty Eight!

2009-09-03T06:54:00.005-07:00

I decided to pay tribute to my brother Danny too while we were talking birthdays...He is 28 today and the baby of our family. No wait...not anymore! His wife Gwen is the baby of our family! Sweet she is only like 24 years old. I was gonna say that since he is inching closer and closer to thirty, basically the whole family would be represented as "old" soon. But now we have at least 5 years before we can say that. Whew! Bless you, Gwen! Anyway,

Happy Birthday Danny!

We can't wait to see you at Christmas time! (Translation: you better not let us down and decide not to come!)

My Baby Boy Is Two...

2009-09-01T08:06:00.005-07:00

I guess we need to have a family home evening learning how to sing this song proper! We love you Brayden! Have a great day!

p.s. He is not MY baby boy. He is my brother's but I love him just the same!

One More Of Grandma Crockett

2009-08-30T09:07:00.004-07:00

I just thought I would post a picture of how my grandma is getting around while visiting my aunt back in Pennsylvania. They have 11 acres and do a lot of things deep back into their lot so in order for Grandma to participate they hooked her up with this sweet ride. We actually put this picture (taken with my dad's iPhone) in the local paper; which she still receives back there, to see if she would get a kick out of it! All of her friends and family here LOVED it. She is so fun! Love you, Grandma!

Update...

2009-08-26T14:33:00.004-07:00

Look how gorgeous our temple is coming along...This was taken Monday at sunset.

I meant to put this up before: I did not take this photograph. It was taken by Dale Holladay and posted to the lds temples website. He is a professional photographer in Safford.

Old Grandma Crockett Is The Best!

2009-08-17T21:12:00.008-07:00

A few weeks ago when we were in Utah for vacation we decided to send a few postcards to my grandma Crockett in Pennsylvania. She has been out there visiting my aunt Jamie and her kids since May. We miss her tons here and I knew she would enjoy getting postcards from the kids. They each had their own message and the girls wrote their own while I penned Bronson's for him. Well, it was reported that she absolutely LOVED hearing from them and receiving her own mail. We were so excited to brighten her day. We love her so much. Well, tonight when Jeff came in from work he brought the mail in and there was a letter from Old Grandma Crockett to the kids. They quickly opened it up and found a letter and three colorful balloons. As they were hovering over Kaitlyn listening to her read the letter, Madelyn said, "Hey, there is something inside my balloon!" Of course! Grandma hid a dollar bill inside each balloon for an added surprise. She is always sneaking treats for the kids. Well, of course their excitement probably matched hers upon receiving the postcards.
While it has been very melancholy this summer without Grandma around, we have enjoyed our moments of contact and correspondence. And I know the kids will remember the cute little ways she shows her love for them. We know you're having a great time in PA Grandma, but we can't wait for you to get back home!

Welcome!

2009-08-16T18:41:00.003-07:00

Been re~doin' our house a little...
If you wanna know what I've done...come on over and visit!
Happy Sunday all!

First Day Of School~2009!

2009-08-12T07:50:00.005-07:00

Friday I was able to check the class lists at the school and find out who the girls' teacher would be this year. Yesterday was "Meet the Teacher" night. After much thought I decided to go ahead and bathe them a little early so they woul db clean to meet their teachers not just for the first day. So here they are in regular play clothes but very clean. Their new school clothes are behind them on the couch. After meeting their teachers last night, I could not be happier about who each girl got. I know they are the perfect choices for my girls. And I know that this year will be great! Bronson loves jumping into the pictures! Madelyn's teacher for 1st grade is Mrs. Mindy Wilson. She was previously the school librarian, but has taught 2nd grade for 18 years and has been at their school for 26 years. She said she "runs a tight ship" so she will be perfect for Madelyn who needs some serious reigning in. She is also very nice and sweet so Madelyn will like her too!Kaitlyn's teacher is Ms. Kim Martin. She is also a member of our ward;which is why I requested her. I have seen her a few times (being stuck in Primary doesn't allow for me to get to know EVERYBODY) but she seems very good with this age of kids. For "Meet the Teacher" night she was dressed as a miner because this year the class will be studying much about Arizona's history which includes many mines being established. She said today she would look normal; she hoped she could get that grime off her face. I think her teaching style will match kaitlyn perfectly and she will also help push Kaitlyn to learn and do more. Now on to today...Kaitlyn picked out this as her first day of school outfit. I am beginning to let her decide more on her own what to wear etc...(gotta relinquish control a little at a time). WE only bought two new school outfits this year b/c Kaitlyn is growing so fast these days, thanks to her shots, that I didn't want to buy a ton of stuff that will be too short too soon. Plus we will have to buy her some new winter clothes when it gets cooler anyway. I also didn't buy any new shoes b/c they had no options when we went looking, but we can get those later too! Madelyn's first day outfit is what I would have picked out, but I let her decide. They would have closely matched today but...oh well. She will also get some newer things to wear in a couple months. She just seems so big. I also measured the girls last night but I don't think our measurements are anywhere near what they should be b/c the mark where Kaitlyn was in December (when she started the hormone shots) is only about 1 1/2 inches from last night's mark and she has grown much more than that accodring to the Dr. Two girls on the first day of school~2009! And Bronson again! He is so cute. we decided not to put him in the pre~school at the school this year. Even though it would mean more free time for me. He is just so smart already~not bragging here! I just thought that he might be ignored or not paid as much attention to b/c of the kids who are there due to IEPs. I know that the teachers have to get those kids up to a good place before sending them to kindergarten, but Bronson already knows the entire alphabet and can count to about 20. He can write his name and I didn't want to pay $60/month for him to be "ignored" even though I know he would not be completely ignored. He will be fine when he starts kindergarten next year!

Well, I don't exactly have this guy's "gusto" for today but I am excited and happy!

Girls Day Out

2009-08-05T21:59:00.006-07:00

On Saturday August 1st Grandpa Crockett took Bronson for some manly man time...Bronson was ready to go with his "Naps Are The Enemy" T-shirt and they had a day of fun just Grandpa and Grandson.

At the same time this was going on another gathering took place with just the girls. Grandma Crockett took ALL the girls to go see the theatre production of High School Musical!!!! I'll just let that sink in for a minute!

Broadway Palms West is a local dinner theatre in Mesa (not local for us eastern AZ peeps but, you know) which does touring musical shows along with buffet style food. It was awesome. Can I just say Boston Cream Pie...YUMMY! This was a treat for the girls and they were so happy that they have such a great grandma! You Rock, G!

At intermission we HAD to take pics in the East High lockers next to Troy and Gabriella. We also HAD to buy HSM T-shirts to show our school spirit. Pics of those later!

After the play was finished (it was their final matinee performance for the tour with the final evening performance being later that night) the entire cast came out for pictures and autographs...just like yearbook day! Here's Coach Bolton who is so nice. And here are some extra Wildcats who we also really like.

Next was Jack Scott who was new from the movies and he was soooo funny. We like him the best. Who knew the nerdy type can be so cool? He's with Kelsie who was so awesome playing her piano...I mean rocking out on her piano!

We love you Jack and Kelsie!

THEN CAME TROY AND GABRIELLA!!!!! They even let all three girls take a pic TOGETHER! They are such sweeties and such a cute couple. LOVE THEM! Ryan even loves them!

Chad was so funny and his smile is great! Ryan made everyone laugh and was really nice. We like him too.

This guy was the boy who says he plays the cello. Man he could rock that (air) cello!

Well, we just LOVED it! Thanks so much for the perfect summer day Grandma Crockett! You are awesome! We love you so much!

P.S. Keep In Touch! BFFs

Oh also the report after coming home was that Bronson and Grandpa also had a great time...Bronson got to go see Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs which he has not stopped talking about since he heard it was coming out this spring. Thanks Grandpa Crockett! You Rock too!

Other Highlights Of Our Trip

2009-07-31T12:09:00.008-07:00

Here are the kids after getting bathed Thursday night. They clean up nice, right?

Well, I am not sure if it was b/c I had made a request or something else but we did end our camping trip early enough to be able to participate in Utah's 24th of July celebration going on on Friday. I just thought that since we would be IN Utah on the 24th we should definitely make plans to see all that. I mean the entire state basically shuts down for this right?

Here we are waiting in our seats for the parade to begin. We had already had a pancake breakfast at the park which was pretty good. The parade had the theme of "Be Thou An example" but I also noticed another theme about "Past, Present and Future" within the church. Here's a float with some Hatch kids sitting atop. Fun!

Then there were the state champion unicyclers team! They actually did some amazing things on the cycles and all coordinated and in sync with each other. Jeff liked the John deer tractor collection.
Now of course I did not take pictures of the entire parade nor did I put all the pictures that I took on this blog, but I gotta say; I was expecting so much more. I mean this was a little weak. Besides the breakfast before the parade and then the parade...that was it. For the entire day. All I could think was back home in AZ (where we celebrate the 24th for no apparent reason relating to the church history of AZ) we had two days of events you could participate in. Next year we will for sure be staying near our home for the 24th of July festivities.

Other highlights of the trip were getting to see the Idaho cousins who also came for the reunion. Fitting 13 people in a two bedroom one bathroom house wasn't the best but we all got along and had fun! There was a replica of the Vietnam Conflict Memorial Wall on display at the park. So we went to see it.

The kids loved playing with the chickens. actually Kaitlyn practically adopted the chickens as her own and somehow escaped a single photograph being taken to prove it. They have eight hens and four babies. we collected and ate a lot of eggs.

We also went to this dirt track speedway and watched some races on Saturday night. It was really fun but also loud and it got pretty late. We didn't leave until after 11:00 pm and I kept thinking we all needed showered for church the next morning and how was that going to happen as it kept getting later and later. We did stay long enough to win a bike helmet in the raffle drawing though! Woohoo!

Madelyn lost her first tooth at G&G's house. Jeff actually pulled it out b/c it looked infected but still. Kaitlyn also lost one while we were on the mountain, but Jeff lost the tooth from his pocket. They both had prizes waiting on their pillows when we got back home to AZ.

The kids loved getting pulled around on the trailer behind the four wheeler. Grandpa Hatch even saved some bails of hay for them to stack so they could learn "hard work." I think Jeff and Brian learned it more than the kids though~wink~!

And we all (read: Jeff) got really excited in Bluff, Utah on the way up when we pulled up to this teeny, tiny gas station and there was this awesome Lamborghini right next to us pumping gas...

We had a great time. Thanks for letting us come and spend some time together.

Camping At Sheep Creek Near Flaming Gorge

2009-07-31T11:36:00.004-07:00

Monday, July 20th we headed up to Vernal Utah for a family reunion with Jeff's dad's side of the family...From Safford, it is about a 15 hour trip. The plan was to go camping with Jeff's dad and step~mom for s few days before the reunion later in the week.

We arrived in Vernal late Monday night and some time on Tuesday we headed up the mountain for some camping. We got camp all set up and ready for a couple days of fun including fishing, hiking, and roasting marshmallows...

The kids all got along and played nicely in the great outdoors. We had pretty primitive setting which accounts for the shameless picture of Bronson relieving himself.

Bronson and Madelyn both really liked the fishing and I think they both caught some fish. Kaitlyn liked walking around taking it all in, but not so much the fishing. No. We did not eat any fish that were caught. They had a release law if it wasn't a certain size. Whew!

We saw a lot of wildlife. Here's a moose with a baby moose behind her (you can see a head to the right behind her). We also saw deer and elk and some osprey flying in to catch a fish out of a lake. There was a nice drive to a geological scenic place with some pretty beautiful landscape scenes.

And we drove up to some great spots to see the Flaming Gorge Lake which spans about 90 miles. Here we are posing at this overlook. Please forgive the complete unkemptness of our appearance. This was at the end of our camping trip.

I was able to finish one book and start another while the rest of the family mostly fished. I am so happy to have recently taken such an interest in reading b/c it saved me from three days of completely going crazy up in the mountains. Yay for books!

BTW I read Nicholas Sparks' "The Notebook" and started his "The Wedding" which I finished on the drive home. He has a new fan!

Independence Day!

2009-07-13T16:03:00.007-07:00

Well, it has officially been forever since I last blogged. And you probably thought that I had absolutely no patriotic spirit at all since I haven't so much as mentioned our Fourth of July festivities...Hopefully this post will restore your faith in me as an American.
Our "Fourth" was great. We spent the whole time with family. My brother Kenny (and his family) came down from Mesa and were here from Thursday (July 2ND) to Monday (July 6TH). This gave us plenty of time to do everything we wanted to while they were here. Which included playing card games until wee hours of the morning and eating a ton of food and letting the kids swim in Mom's and Dad's pool while we stayed inside in the cool house. We have no pics of any of this since were were having too much fun.. So back to the Fourth Festivities.
Safford had a parade down Main Street which a lot of people came out for. We got a spot on the corner by Dad's old bank and waited for it to start.

It started with the National Anthem and someone leading the Pledge of Allegiance while the flag was raised at the courthouse. (I staged this photo after the Pledge was finished ...that is why Tyler's hat is back on his head and why Kaitlyn is looking at them with a funny face.)

The parade had some National Guard (I think) men in uniform marching at the head followed by a group of local scouts and then this guy wearing red, white and blue ringing the Liberty Bell. All of which were appropriate for the parade.

But then I guess any local organization who wanted to participate could do their version of a float which is when it got random. Smokey the Bear from the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service was there. And there were some little kids riding scooter ponies or something which were really cute and I missed what organization they were from but again...random. (Do you see the STAR sunglasses on some of the kids? See. Its American!)

Saturday night we went out to the Graham County Fairgrounds to watch the fireworks. There is always a huge crowd so I went early with my kids and saved places for Kenny and his family and Mom and Dad. There was a free concert of this new country band called Savannah Jack before the fireworks. They were good. The lead singer came down from the stage and went right next to us to sing to this little girl. It was cool. Plus he is kinda cute! Jeff missed the concert but arrived just in time for the fireworks show. I was happy that he made it to our family night of fun. He worked on the Fourth (and got paid holiday pay) and then had the fifth off.

I discovered a firework setting on our camera so I was having fun taking pics of them as they went off. I like the ones that have that dragged out effect more than the ones that just poof out and hold it there. Here are some of our (my) favorites.

Hope you all had a great Independence Day! Happy Birthday, America!

I Have Nothing To Do...

2009-07-06T10:34:00.005-07:00

Yesterday I was officially released from my calling as Primary 1st counselor. Out of the 10 years of being married I have been in the primary for eight. I haven't attended Relief Society or Sunday School in about seven years. I am hoping that I will at least get to go once or twice before they put me somewhere else.
I will miss the Primary children. I learned to love all children by serving them for so long. I know that Primary is an inspired program that teaches exactly what our children need to be learning at a young age. Sometimes it was hard, but it was always fun and never dull. And I think I learned a few things that I needed as a mom and a child of God myself.

Ten Years Of LOVE!

2009-06-26T10:23:00.004-07:00

Today is our tenth anniversary. I am happy to say that we still love each other and get along like we just met. Sort of. Jeff and I have a unique way of getting along. If you ask my family members they would tell you that we fight a lot. But its our way of communicating. Rarely when we "fight" is it serious. And when it is it doesn't last long. This is in stark contrast to when we first got married and had to figure each other out whilst me being pregnant with Kaitlyn. (I got pregnant with her about a month after we married.) It was very hard. But we stuck it out and I think we have done a pretty good job together.
Here's a brief timeline for our last ten years:
3/28/99 Jeff and I meet for the first time spend the rest of the day together
3/29-4/1 99 Jeff and I go on a road trip to Idaho with his sisters.
4/1/99 We had our first kiss
5/1/99 Jeff proposes to me and I of course say yes!
6/26/99 Jeff and I are married in the Mesa AZ temple
7/1/99 We moved to Colorado after a quick honeymoon to Flagstaff.
4/24/2000 Kaitlyn Mackenzie Hatch is born.
3/5/2003 Madelyn Ava Hatch is born.
2/14/2005 Bronson Ryder Hatch is born.
7/1/2006 After exactly seven years, we move to AZ for a fresh start and a better life!
7/2/2007 We signed on our first house.
6/26/09 Ten years of wedded bliss!
I know the next ten years will be even better than these first ten have been and I am looking forward to what they have to offer us.

p.s. As an unplanned anniverary gift Jeff announced to me that the mine is now allowing overtime work again! This is a HUGE blessing and I couldn't have asked for a better "gift."

Jeff's Birthday...

2009-06-25T22:50:00.004-07:00

How awesome that this is my 200th post! I didn't plan it or time it to be for a birthday but here it is! Yesterday was Jeff's birthday. He is officially on the downhill slope of his 30's. We pretty much did nothing special to celebrate. Mainly b/c of lack of money and planning anything. (I also boycotted it just a little bit since my birthday was total crap last year!) But I did make his favorite meal and a cake which really sucked but hey I tried. Here's to a better year.
I still love him and am happy to have him in my life as my husband and father to my awesome kids. He rocks! I love you Jeff!
Tomorrow's post: Our Tenth Anniversary!

Mom's And Dad's Anniversary!

2009-06-15T22:58:00.002-07:00

Today is my parents 38th anniversary...I have been looking for a picture I have of their wedding day but am having some trouble finding it. Plus I think they might not like their picture put up here. That's too bad b/c this is my blog and I can do whatever I want! PIctures coming soon.

Book Club Hostess, That's Me

2009-06-11T12:51:00.005-07:00

I was recently in charge of my ward's Book Club book-of-the-month. I picked Hands of My Father by Myron Uhlberg. It was actually the book suggested by someone else in the other book club I attend in my old ward! When she told us it was about a young boy growing up with deaf parents, I was intrigued and bought it as soon as I could.I was also in charge of our refreshments when we gathered back to discuss the book. This, for me, is a dreaded responsibility. I do not cook or bake very well and the thought of feeding other people something that should taste sweet and yummy stressed me out. However, I did find some fun looking recipes in magazines etc. and was curious to try them out. First I found this layered cake. But it was layered vertically, which totally freaked me out (in a good way). I got the recipe and tried it. It did not work. But I did end up using it as a regular layered (horizontal) cake which was very rich and tasty.

I also saw these Cheesecake Pops in a magazine and thought it didn't sound so hard. I know how to make cheesecake pretty well so I gave 'em a try. The magazine picture had white chocolate covering with sprinkles which made them look very pretty. I wanted the same look so I used white chocolate.

They didn't turn out looking like the ones in the magazine and for all that effort I would rather have, at least, tasted the real chocolate. Next time...if there is a next time that is.

Everyone loved the book and we are on to a new one for the next month...with someone else in charge thankfully!

Here is what else I have been reading lately:

H0me by Julie Andrews a memoir about her early upbringing.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer I read it in junior high or high school and thought it was good. So far I like it~again! It is in olde English; which is cool.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen so far I have only read a couple pages and it is hard to get into. But I will persevere.

The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald I picked it up from my mom's house yesterday and have only read about half a chapter already but love it. It is funny! Its about a lady in the 40's-50's who follows her husband to Washington where his dream is to have a chicken farm. He loves it; she hates it!

All these links are random...but will give you an idea more about these books.

I am also interested in reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (before seeing the new movie).

Woot For Korryn!

2009-06-10T10:14:00.004-07:00

Today is my friend Korryn's birthday...Just wanted to say

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

You are awesome...I hope you get everything you wish for!

Prognosis Positive

2009-06-08T20:51:00.004-07:00

Kaitlyn saw an ENT Dr. this morning. We have been worrying about her b/c she goes through these periods of time where her hearing is terrible. Most of the time it happens when she is sick and has built up wax inside her ear...We usually take her in to see the Dr. and they clean it out and put her on some antibiotics and a couple days later she is hearing better again. Its just the loss of her hearing is so bad at these times that we have been worried. The Dr. referred us to an ENT and he checked her out today.
She's fine. He said that if it only happens a couple times a year that she is in no danger of losing her hearing in the future. Even having Turner Syndrome (which includes the possibility of having some hearing loss) it seems that she is in the clear.
Yes. Jeff asked a ton of questions. We took all of her previous hearing tests that she has had done with us so he could take a look at them. He said that those test results back up what he said about being fine.
In the back of my mind ever since I served my mission I have wondered if I would have a deaf or hard-of-hearing child. When we were bringing all of this up to the Dr. in the very beginning and asking for a referral, I said that if she loses her hearing its fine b/c I can sign and the rest of us can learn...The Dr. thought that was so sweet but not the right answer. This whole time I have been thinking that if it were to happen we would just throw our hands up and say...okay start signing. But she said that there are ways to determine the problem and then help it whatever the case may be. That thought had never entered my mind.
I am relieved. We love Kaitlyn and everything about her. Its nice to know that we can just take her in and have her ears cleaned out a couple times a year.

Megan, You Should Have Come

2009-06-06T19:21:00.007-07:00

I never thought I would see the day, but it happened today.

My mom made an impulsive decision and bought a pool.

They have a slab ready for a future gazebo, but it was calling for something to keep us cool this summer. Bam! She was sold!

It took some time to figure out the instructions and of course the kids were super excited. As soon as we got it laid out and ready for water, we let them in.

It took more than four hours for it to fill up but they had fun wading around in it until then.

We took a short time out for lunch and passed the time by watching a movie (b/c of the rule~wait 20 minutes after eating before going swimming). That was agonizing for them b/c they could see that it was almost full.

Finally, we got back in and let it fill the rest of the way while playing around. My kids are small enough that it was practically swimming anyway. And I also put the camera away by that time so we don't have any pics of the real fun we had playing in a filled up swimming pool. Which by the way would have included pics of MOM (Grandma Crockett) herself having a grand ol' time. The last one is after we put the cover on and tucked her in for the night.

Seriously, an awesome day!

Okay I'm Over It!

2009-06-05T08:06:00.003-07:00

Now that I am over the whole dead-fish-on-my-porch treachery, I can post about the fun that was had whilst fishing on the top of the mountain.

The kids each have their own fishing rods which usually don't get used for real fishing. Jeff will let them practice casting while he makes his way around a lake. However, the regulations for fishing this lake were that kids under 12 (or maybe 10) were free. So he formulated a "fishing trip for the kids" which would also allow him to "fish" without having to pay anything.

After about an hour of catching nothing, they finally started biting. He somehow worked it so that each kid caught two fish.

Madelyn was the only one who would touch the dead fish. Of course, this little girl would do anything to impress her daddy and keep him right where she wants him. He is wrapped around her finger.
And there was some excitement when one of the other parties of fishermen saw this little bear cub approaching. All he was interested in was catching some of the dead fish along the shoreline, but that didn't stop some of the other idiot fishermen from trying to get in closer for a picture. They finally backed off after some coaxing from their friends/family. He made his way around most of the lake and Jeff snapped this picture (from a good distance).

This Is Right Outside My Front Door.

2009-06-04T09:34:00.003-07:00

If this is what I have to look forward to after Jeff and the kids go fishing, they can stay home from now on.

Our Camping Adventure

2009-05-28T16:35:00.007-07:00

First, I just want to say that we did have fun and that I am happy that I went camping with the family. I wouldn't be surprised if many people think that I would feel differently about the whole thing.

Monday, we were invited by my Uncle Jon and Aunt Leslie to go up to their cabin and have a Memorial Day lunch cookout. It was fun. It is always fun to see them and hang out. We had hot dogs and hamburgers and some salads and chips, sodas, etc... Plus, they made homemade ice cream too. Thanks for inviting us and starting our camping trip off right.

Near the cabin someone had brought up a chain and attached it to this stump. The kids played on it for a long time. Who would have thought out in the woods that a chain would be the most fun thing to do? Ah well. Kids are funny!

When we got up to our campsite, it started getting dark and we eventually got out the glow sticks for the kids to have. I think that is the reason they want to camp. The glow sticks are so much fun. I said I would take their pictures with their sticks and each one posed differently. I never know what to expect.
We camped at Riggs Flat lake on the tip top of Mt. Graham. Jeff doesn't like to pay so we had an undeveloped campsite which meant no picnic tables or outhouses. We had to make our own!

Jeff getting our dinners ready.

Our foil dinners. They were yummy. Bronson dropped his on the ground literally seconds after it was opened for him. Of course the whole thing fell to the dirt. Luckily we made a couple extra.

Here is our campsite. We had a great spot for the tent. It was very flat and comfy.

We brought a ton of blankets to bundle our kids up in and under for extra padding. Jeff and I got the air mattress. It got down to about 45* for the night (Jeff thinks) which is much nicer than I thought it would be.

The next day Jeff made sure to get the kids out for some practice with their new Henry Mini Bolt .22. Madelyn looks very serious!

Kaitlyn taking aim...its still just a little big for them.

The only picture Jeff took of me has me wrapped up like a mummy. I actually was not cold for a long time. But right here I was cold. The weather was great. Cool, no rain. Bright blue skies with occasional overcast to cool things down further.

We had fun. The kids love doing this with their dad. All of them commented on how I usually don't go with them and this time I did come. They pretty much knew the system. Jeff sets things up. They help on some of it. They run around but not too far.

I was not as informed or practiced with everything. I kept thinking shouldn't we do this first or that later? EVERYTHING was very laid back. Jeff would say do you guys want to eat? and an hour later we would start making the meal. A lot of this bugged me (not to mention the six million actual bugs that bugged me). I felt very anxious. Yes. It was enjoyable. But I don't think I will be doing it again for a while. Not my cup-o-tea! Love you family, but next time I will sit it out!

~hmmm~That last paragraph totally contradicts what I said at the top. Oh well. I do not regret going. I just don't want to go again.

We Are Going Camping...

2009-05-25T08:52:00.001-07:00

Be back tomorrow with pictures and a full report.
p.s. That doesn't mean I will blog about it tomorrow but we will be back...etc.!

Last Day Of School...

2009-05-20T07:08:00.005-07:00

Here we are on the last day of school. I am so happy to have school be out and just to be able to relax and do our own thing this summer.

I thought I would take a picture of the girls in front of the couch again and compare. Here is Kaitlyn with her pajamas on since they were told they would be watching a movie and eating pizza all day. I was okay with it. (She did not sleep in these last night.)Here is Madelyn. I dressed her up a little since there was a Kindergarten promotion program. The dress is a little too short but I am still looking for leggings to go with it and it was the best thing we had this morning. Here are both girls on the first day and below both of them today...you can't really compare the pics (growth wise) b/c I think I was standing up taking the first pic and today I knelt down to take it. So they look a lot taller. But you can still see a difference in them both and they are cute. I will post more about end of the year programs and that kind of stuff soon. But right now we celebrate...SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!

I Have A Problem With This...

2009-05-19T09:26:00.004-07:00

This was copied and pasted from our local school district website...

June & July, Safford USD Summer Food Program: Safford is once again participating in the National Summer Food Program. We will be serving Hot Breakfasts and Lunches and Bagged Lunches at several sites throughout town. This is a great program where all area kids 18 and under can get free breakfasts and lunches. Please look out for menus and site locations in the local paper in May, June and July. This year we will be posting the weekly menu every week in the Eastern Arizona Courier. Remember, there are no forms to fill out for this program. Kids just need to come to one of the sites and consume the meal on site.

Warning: This will probably not be the most eloquent post but I have to get my feeling out.

My kids came home with a flyer yesterday stating that they will again be offered free breakfasts and lunches throughout the summer.
Last year we participated in this program a handful of times when it was convenient for us (and I remembered that it was going on)... It was fun, we got to see some friends and I didn't have to make or clean up lunch a few times.
Then shortly after school started here in our little community, we hit a recession; industrially speaking. The mine where most of the people are employed here had to make some cut backs to be able to stay afloat...This continues to be the case after almost nine months of careful management. There have been other companies here who have also made cut backs and generally speaking the community is suffering. Our school district had a meeting at which they discussed how they would make certain cuts in order to contribute their share to the state's deficit problem. From what I know, there won't be many people who lose their jobs but some will and other cuts have been made.
SO WHY THEN, I ASK...IS THE DISTRICT OFFERING FREE FOOD TO ANYONE 18 AND UNDER FOR TWO MONTHS???
Summer comes every year...we know this. Meaning that people have time to plan. If you cannot afford to take time off work to be there with your kids, you either have a day care or family members taking care of them for you. Part of this responsibility is feeding them. Not making our deficit bigger by taking free meals from the tax payers. Put that money to better use by keeping some of the cut programs and or people who lost their jobs.
Last year I freely participated in this program when it was convenient for me. This year, you couldn't pay me enough to participate; no matter how convenient. Indeed this summer it would be much more convenient for us with our own personal cutbacks but the principle is more important. We are in economic turmoil and this is just one more way that the government can "give us whatever we want" without anyone considering the repercussions.
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have." ~Thomas Jefferson

Mother's Day...

2009-05-12T11:11:00.004-07:00

Well, before too much more time passes, I thought I should post about my Mother's Day this year. Remember last year's post about Mother's Day??? I need to redeem my family and let the world know that I do love them and they do deserve that love. Sorry no pictures in this post...I literally took the day off and did not even try to guide (read: boss, mother) people what to do~including pics for the blog.
Saturday night the kids and I met Jeff at the Walmart when he was coming home from work so we could get food provisions for my Mother's Day breakfast. I decided on breakfast burritos and bought some sausage to go in them (or in case I changed my mind and wanted waffles and sausage). Sunday morning, we slept in a little. Church is at 11:00 so we couldn't prolong things too much. Jeff got up and had the kids help with breakfast. I stayed in bed and finished my book. All the while one at a time a kid would come in and hand me a card s/he had made saying how I am the best. Soon Madelyn came in with a plate and a glass of orange juice. Jeff even went to the trouble to garnish my burritos and make them look pretty and appetizing. Not being the type of person to eat in bed, I took my plate and juice out to the table and we all ate together. It was delicious. Thanks Jeff (and kids) for my yummy Mother's Day breakfast. I laid out the kids clothes (since Jeff needs help in that area) and then got in the shower and got ready for church. Except for doing the girls' hair, I only worried about myself the whole morning.
Church was good. Our ward gave each mother a musical CD made by members of the ward. All the songs were about motherhood and the home. Its pretty nice and unique. I do love getting candy though. :) I got a bunch more cards from the kids after church and Madelyn's teacher even knew about my candy fix and gave me (actually each mother of the children in her class) a Take 5 bar. It was supposed to represent that we would hopefully get a 5 minute break at some point in the day. Thanks! That was nice too! Jeff also wore his pink shirt again for me. I had forgotten about it and I guess now I am required to wear the camo skirt to church on Father's Day. I might let him off the hook from now on. It just doesn't suit him at all!
After church I got to come home and rest again for a while until we went to my mom's house to give her her card and gift as well as a card and gift from my brother Kenny. We stayed longer than we planned but it was fun and when we got home Jeff made dinner. Then we went to see my Grandma and give her a card. She is leaving for Pennsylvania this Wednesday for several months. We wanted to be sure to let her know how much we love her.
While we were at the Walmart, Jeff kept asking me what I wanted for my Mother's day gift. I hadn't thought much about it and didn't want to just decide something on the spot so we agreed that I could pick something out later. So no gifts as of yet...but I will think of something good.
I have tried hard this year to relax and enjoy my kids rather than to be short tempered and frustrated with everything (annoying and bad) they do. I definitely noticed a difference in everyone this year and was able to enjoy the day. I do love my family and each of my children for their individual spirits and talents. I am thankful to have them and to be their mother. I am also thankful for Jeff and that we get to do the parenting thing together. He is great and wonderful and perfect for me.

Woohoo For New Sheets!

2009-05-07T10:03:00.004-07:00

I bought some new sheets the other day to go with our new bed quilt. I bought the 400 thread count set from Walmart b/c it was only a few dollars more for the higher thread count than the 200. Also, this is the first time since we got married that we have bought new sheets. We bought one set after exchanging some other wedding gifts. I am sure we got them at Walmart but I don't know what the thread count was. We have a couple hand-me-down sets from my mom and from Jeff's mom. So I put them on and made my bed and that night I got into bed...Jeff was working that night so I had the bed to myself. HOLY FREAKIN' SOFT! I can not believe how soft and smooth those new sheets are. I slept all over the bed that night just to get the full effect. The next morning I said to Jeff, "If I had realized how awesome it was to sleep on new sheets, we might have a bunch more sheet sets than we do."

I also bought a couple new throw pillows. I am not sure about how they go with the quilt but I like them enough to keep them anyway.

Kids!

2009-05-05T14:10:00.003-07:00

This was last week...
These were their second outfits after the first got all muddy...
I don't wanna talk about it.

Steroid Junkie!

2009-05-04T07:58:00.005-07:00

I have been on steroids for 12 days now...Today is my last day and I can't wait for my body to get back to a normal functioning pattern.
It started the day before Easter when we went out to Klondyke for the Curtis family reunion. Maybe it was the abundance of fresh air or the pollen out there with all the vegetation but I got hit bad on the way home with what turned out to be sinusitis (as diagnosed a few days later by my Dr.). She prescribed me an antibiotic to make it go away and I started taking it the next day. That was Thursday. I took it twice Thursday, once Friday (I forgot on Friday night) and then again on Saturday morning. When I woke up on Saturday morning I had a rash all over my body. I had already taken it, but did not take it again after I noticed the rash.
Saturday we loaded up all the branches and sticks from our front yard (from trimming the tree way back in like February) and took it all to the dump b/c it was free dump day. This was a lot of labor; loading and stomping them down and then unloading. By the end of the day we were tired.
Sunday we went to church had a normal day until that night when Jeff noticed a cut in our window screen and we wondered if someone had done this from the outside. I slept on the couch. Jeff had work the next day and couldn't be half-sleeping in case it was nothing. Plus I don't mind the occasional sleep on the couch.
Monday I woke up sore from head to toe. Most of the day I moved around like a person twice my age. I thought it was from the work we did on Saturday so I figured it would just get better eventually. I slept on the couch again Monday night just to make sure and when I woke up Tuesday, I was almost immobile. It took so much work to move around and get the girls ready for school etc...I thought, that's it I don't care if someone does break in, I am sleeping on the bed tonight. which I did.
Wednesday I woke up still sore and stiff and swollen in every joint. I went back to the Dr. She told me that rarely a person will have this kind of reaction to an antibiotic but that she shouldn't be surprised that I had this reaction since everything weird and rare happens to me! Ha Tell me about it!
So she let me try high doses of Ibuprofen for 24 hours and if that didn't work to relieve the swelling, I would have to go on this steroid. Of course, the Ibuprofen did not work and I began Prednisone. I had to take 6 pills the first three days, 4 the next three days, 2 the next three and one the last three days. The pill tastes terrible and makes all my food taste terrible. It also gives me nausea, constipation or diarrhea depending on where I was in the course of the medication as well as fatigue and hot flashes. I have felt crappy for 12 days (not to mention the 10 or so days I felt sick before this started) and am hoping that as soon as this last pill goes through my system and does its work I will be back to normal.
I am not for taking steroids. They are as much of a harm to your body as they are a help. The severity of this situation was what made my Dr. choose them for me, but in the future I hope to be able to avoid them.
I am actually looking forward to doing some exercising soon and tasting my food again.

More Gems From Bronson

2009-05-02T17:23:00.009-07:00

Today we were at my parents house so Jeff could sleep and Bronson just kept saying the funniest things...Again!

As the kids rushed into Mom and Dad's house they each gave hugs to Mom.
Mom: Bronson, do I get a hug?
Bronson: Ya! Oh sorry for tramping on your foot.

Bronson: (trying to shove his foot into his boot~stomp, stomp stomp)
Me: Bronson, it's on the wrong foot.
B: Is that why it won't go in?

Later, Bronson made a quick trip out to the backyard and then back inside again. As he was coming back in...
Bronson: I was just giving the flowers some love.
Me: (seriously what?) You were giving the flowers love?
B: Yep, so they can grow bigger.

Bronson wanted to go outside again to look for treasure...
Dad: Bronson, come here.
Bronson: (going to Grandpa)
Dad: I found the treasure right here (hugging Bronson).
B: No, I'm not the treasure. I don't have a key hole in my tummy.

Bronson was dancing around the other day...
Jeff: Bronson, do you need to go to the bathroom?
Bronson: How can you see inside me?

I told Bronson to put on his shoes so we could leave. He, I guess, did not like this. Plus, they were on the wrong feet so he had to do it again. All the while babbling to himself...
Bronson: If I get to 5, I will never smile again.

On Mother's Day at church, the Primary president asked Bronson what some things are that I do for him...
Bronson: (thinking~for a long time)
Primary President: (helping him out) Does she feed you?
B: No!

We went on a family walk after dinner one night and walked by a canal that runs along a path...We warned the kids to stay away from the edge so they wouldn't fall in.
Me: Bronson, you can't walk that close because if you fall in you would drown. If you drown, you die and you can't live with us any more. You have to live in Heaven.
Bronson: Ya! Or else in the very bottom of that ditch.

How can you not LOVE that kid!

An Anniversary For Us!

2009-05-01T15:02:00.004-07:00

Jeff and I got engaged 10 years ago tonight. It was after his cousin Jaren's wedding in Denver which I rode out with some other cousins from Provo to see. After the LONNNGGG festivities of the day ie: wedding, luncheon, reception, clean up etc...And a quick trip to Fort Collins and back we drove over to the Temple which was closed up at that point. I think it was around 11:00pm. It was raining the entire day and Jeff said he would have preferred to do something big and outdoorsy but he didn't want to wait anymore. He got on his knees in the driver's seat of the Jimmy and pulled out a CTR ring since I had not found an engagement ring that I liked (cheesy I know but I still have it!) and proposed. I said yes and that was that.

Madelyn's Adventures With Allergies!

2009-04-30T10:46:00.004-07:00

Sunday night we had dinner...Spaghetti, meatballs, peas, and apple juice...All things we have previously eaten. Many times. After dinner Madelyn was still hungry and decided to eat some cottage cheese. She has also had this many times. While she was eating her face broke out in hives and swelled up to twice its size. This was very puzzling to us since we did not give her anything she was allergic to. We looked for an Epipen but could not find one. Nice. We got out the Benadryl and gave her some to help. It took several hours for her swelling to go down. I am still puzzled as to what caused that reaction.

Monday life was normal.

Tuesday we had dinner...Chicken & rice with cream cheese sauce, water and some strawberries. She broke out again. Again we have had this before. Plus it was pretty plain...This time we just checked her out and let her go to bed without any Benadryl. The swelling was not as bad as Sunday night. But we did watch her in the night to make sure she was okay.

Wednesday we took her to the Dr. and were told that she is allergic. Thanks! To what? We got a new prescription for an Epipen and her other allergy medications and came home. For dinner we had leftovers and Madelyn ate the chicken and rice thing. We figured of all the leftovers this was the least likely to give her any problems. She ate an orange after and broke out.

So we are guessing that she has a citric acid allergy. Great! Just when we thought we had this under control, she pulls something new out of her hat!

So who do you think Madelyn looks more like...?
One of the Fat Albert kids? ORShiloh Pitt?

Here's one more for your viewing pleasure!

Kaitlyn's 9th Birthday!

2009-04-26T13:26:00.007-07:00

April 24th 2009!Friday was Kaitlyn's birthday... It was kind of a busy day. She had a kickball game at school but they didn't win so they were eliminated. It was okay though. Later in the day we were able to take in some donuts for her class to share in celebration. It was fun.Kaitlyn has been nicknamed "Hot Wheels" on the kickball field. I guess this is b/c she is such a fast runner. It is pretty cool to see her running to the base after kicking the ball. Jeff has been working on other aspects of the game with her so that she can play a good defense as well. A package arrived for Kaitlyn Thursday afternoon so we let her open it up before school on Friday. It was from Grandma and Grandpa Armold. They sent her a cute card and a High School Musical purse, a cute shirt, and a Gift Card to Walmart. That will be fun to see what she picks out.
After school we opened the rest of the presents which turned out to be an almost completely High School Musical themed party from that point on. She got a couple new outfits just for fun...Then it was "Bring on the HSM!"There was a Troy night light, a HSM digital photo cube, a HSM bulletin board, a Sharpay golf cart and doll, a new HSM jewelry box (matching Madelyn's from her birthday) a ton of HSM and other jewelry for the new box a new HSM watch and I am sure some other stuff I am forgetting.

Here she is posing with all her loot. Madelyn and Bronson got in on the fun as well at the end. P.S. don't mind the crazy hair in these pics. At the beginning of the day she decided she was going to wear a headband with her bangs pulled back (against my wishes for a more secure method of pulling the bangs back all day) by the time we got to her game the headband had been put in her backpack and by the end of school it was some crazy mullet from 1988.

After presents we made quesadillas and packed up to go to Mesa for the weekend. Aunt Megan had made a cake and had ice cream and gotten a present for her too! Thanks Megan. On Monday Grandma and Grandpa Crockett will be celebrating with a special dinner and present. Thanks everyone for celebrating Kaitlyn's special day with us.

What is Kaitlyn doing these days?

* She is almost finished with third grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Melissa Gutierrez.

* She is still an amazing reader and still loves reading most of the time.

* She has made some very good friends at school and is kind to everyone she knows.

* She is moving on up to the older girl stuff and has slowly left the younger girl behind. (ie: she now prefers HSM to the Disney Princess collection~which surprisingly I am okay with).

* She has been taking her growth hormone shots for four months now and has grown a little bit(2cm). At her last appointment the Dr. said that her growth rate had doubled since November. Great news!

* She is 41 1/2 inches tall (105.5 cm) and weighs 38 pounds. Woohoo!

* She wears a size 6 shirt and 5 pants.

* She is in the Valiant 9 class at church and her teacher is Sister Janeen Jones. We love her!

* She is attending the Achievement Days program at church and loves seeing the other girls and doing fun things with them.

* She has started memorizing a few scriptures including monthly Primary theme scriptures and the Articles of Faith.

To My Kaitlyn:

I remember the day you were born. The day after Easter 2000. We were so excited to have you and to start being your parents. You are so special to us b/c you made us parents for the first time and after you were born we were never the same again. It has been fun to watch you grow up and become such a beautiful, smart, young girl. Your personality sparkles with happiness and love. You are so enthusiastic and silly. You are also caring and thoughtful. You notice when people are sad and need a hug or kiss. You are a good example to your younger sister and brother. They look to you for what is the right thing to do. Thank you for being such a good girl. I hope you know that you can do anything you want and that you will always be so special to us. We love you so much.

Love,

Mom and Daddy

Odd Introductions...

2009-04-19T15:20:00.002-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my sister and I were together when she said to me, "See that girl over there? The one who's "What-Not-To-Wear"'... Funny, I knew exactly who she was talking about after that.
The other day Jeff wanted to talk about someone in our ward but didn't know their names. All he knows them by is how I refer to them. So he says, " You know Barbie and Ken?" Again, I said, "Yeah!"

What Makes Kids Happy?

2009-04-14T14:19:00.009-07:00

The other night when I got home from class Bronson met me at the door ecstatic. This is slightly unusual. Normally when I get home its more like a halfhearted Hi, Mom as they sit watching the t.v. Apparently they were helping Daddy in the kitchen. This is what Bronson shrieked to me...
B: Mom, guess what were having...
Me: What?
B: Those things YOU eat!
Then he proceeded to describe them to me since he was unaware of the actual name they go by...
B: (continued) two graham crackers, a big marshmallow and CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!!!! (as his excitement is nearly at a bursting limit)
Ahhh yes. I DO eat those (and I don't very often share them with kiddos!~oops)...they are called s'mores!
Speaking of s'mores...isn't it interesting that the person who invented these got the name "s'mores." How is it that nothing had already received that name...? Like I can think of some things that are equally good and probably older than s'mores.
Here's my list:
1) Chocolate covered strawberries
2) Guacamole
3) Homemade bread
4) Fried ice cream
What would your list be?
I know what JEFF would put on HIS list of what should be called s'mores...you know...one thing!

When You Get A Haircut...

2009-04-14T13:53:00.005-07:00

You better go back home...get a barber you have known since you were a little bitty [girl] sittin' in a booster chair 'cuz you might look like Larry, Moe or Curly if a stranger cuts your hair. ~Ray Stevens~
Well, after being so dirty this weekend playing out on the Ranch...the girls' hair was showing how badly it needed trimmed. So on Sunday night I cut Kaitlyn's hair just a couple inches to even it out in the back.
Last night Madelyn decided she too needed a hair cut and gave me specific instructions how short to make it. Apparently she likes to have her hair short. She showed me right under the jaw.

As Kaitlyn was watching, she decided that hers was not short enough. Pretty quickly I determined that I would be doing hers again after I finished Madelyn's. Here's the end result last night right before bed.And here it is again this morning after I fixed it a little for school.

Disclaimer: I do not profess to be a barber or a hair technician of any sort. But I am also way too cheap to take my kids into someone and pay even $10 for their hair to be cut. I mean it is basically a cut-it-short-for-summer-time-'do and I AM capable of accomplishing making hair shorter.

Our Easter Weekend...

2009-04-13T15:54:00.006-07:00

For two years now we have been so busy with just fun, family activities that we have actually not had a visit from the Easter Bunny. Last year we went up the mountain and played the whole Saturday before and then just cleaned up and got Easter clothes. (There might have been a few pieces of candy in baskets.) This year I completely forgot to decorate and get provisions for the Easter Bunny's visit. I am okay with it as it is only a secular tradition which has nothing to do with the real reason for Easter.

This year we went to a family reunion involving our second cousins the Curtis'. We have not seen all of them in many, many years and they have this reunion almost every year and invited us this time. It was so great to see old faces and talk like we always knew each other.It started with visiting this pretty horse who is ready to deliver a baby horse (I forget the correct term) ANY DAY! She was so calm and just let the kids pet her. I am sure it hurt to move, but she was very patient.The kids loved seeing her and touching her belly. Then we went on a hike looking for hidden Easter eggs. They were all in the bushes and trees down the trail and hidden in various crevices. The kids ran around looking and helping each other out. After that we noticed a small makeshift pen and wandered over to investigate. It was the biggest hit of the day...PUPPIES!Little did we know that Cathy had planned to give these cute hound puppies away to anyone who wanted one this weekend. Megan, my sister (who was staying at my house by the way) jumped on that and immediately said I'll take one. I want the brown one! Wha?What? Both her husband and I just stood there dumbfounded. Was she serious? I guess so. And she said...This will be their Easter (since she hadn't done much for it either).He has yet to be named but has taken to the family very well. And how could you resist those cute eyes? Well, I did. My kids bugged me the rest of the day. Why can't we get a puppy, Mom? Well, Madelyn is allergic and Daddy is not here and we have to talk about it first. There was also great food and lots of it. Allen made an awesome breakfast including scrambled eggs and waffles and pancakes and sausage and bacon and Wayne made some great pit BBQ with beef and pork. Yummy! The desserts were good too! We had fun talking and laughing and getting to know each other again.

Thanks to Uncle Wayne and Aunt Cathy for going all out and making it a memorable and fun Easter for us.

Here is our Old Grandma (the Curtis' Aunt Anita) with Wayne and Cathy!

Here It Is...

2009-04-13T15:31:00.004-07:00

Here's the old bed...with last Christmas' quilt.

And here's the new quilt...with our new mattress underneath...

I had specific instructions for this quilt. I love the double Irish chain pattern but have seen it on beds and did not love how the pattern continues under the pillows and off the sides. So I had Mom make the pattern for just the top and added borders on the sides as well as a solid red band where the pillows sit and one more row of Irish chain above that so that the pattern is visible and not distorted or off when the bed is made. If you look closely you will see the red band under the pillow tuck. I love it.

The new mattress is one of those that never needs to be flipped and it is 16" deep. I love high beds that you have to climb into. (Even though I pretty much have to climb into any bed!) I will be buying some black sheets soon and might get a dust ruffle too. We will see.

A New Wedding Gift

2009-04-03T10:50:00.007-07:00

Our computer is having difficulty uploading pictures from our camera. Dang communist manufacturing engineers who design things to break every two years or less. Anyway, so I would show you the new bed (mattress) we bought yesterday but I can't upload it. Maybe we can get it figured out by the time Mom finishes our wedding quilt. (Yes you read that right.) We have been married for almost 10 years and my mom has finally almost finished our wedding quilt. It doesn't help that the one I chose 10 years ago was a double wedding ring and had seriously like a million pieces. So about a year ago I decided that we could live with a different quilt pattern and chose a double Irish chain. Not as hard but still time consuming. Plus I changed the colors so we had to go fabric shopping. As if that is a bad thing. Anyway, all that is left is the binding and when that's done we will put it on our new mattress and take a picture. I love getting new stuff. (I feel a tangent coming on: Don't you think people should have anniversary showers? Like when you get married and have a bridal shower, you have no idea what you will need and you register for tons of crap. But after 10 years, you know exactly what you need and shouldn't you be rewarded for lasting that long?)
p.s. I borrowed these pics from the Internet.

Kids...

2009-03-30T10:50:00.006-07:00

Since I know several people who are having babies in the next few days, I thought I would let you all know what you have to look forward to in the next 4 to 6 years...
Last night I was cutting Jeff's hair in the bathroom. We thought we could trust the kids to behave for about 30 minutes while we were in there, but alas no we couldn't. Kaitlyn was playing on the computer and probably oblivious to what the other two were doing. Bad thing was; it was the other two we had to worry about in the first place.
About ten minutes into cutting his hair, we heard uncontrollable laughter coming from Bronson and Madelyn. We called them both in to the bathroom to find out what the "problem" was. We always know it is a problem when they get together and laugh.
Turns out that they thought it would be "funny" if they urinated in the trash can in the girls bedroom.
Aren't you happy there are no pictures with this post?
Good luck to all of you having babies soon. Hope it is great!
By the way...that trash can is now in the trash!

I'm A Total Slacker...

2009-03-27T13:33:00.003-07:00

Holy crap people. I have not blogged in forever. Here is my list of excuses for why I have been a negligent blogger: 1) My life is so boring nothing is blog worthy these days. 2) Facebook. 3) I have been sick with either allergies or some mild flu for at least a week. 4) My kids had it before me. 5) It was Spring Break. 6) At the beginning of Spring Break we went to Mesa to help my brother move to a new house and I took a lot of pics of that but thought it was THEIR right/privilege to blog about that and have not blogged about it here. 7) I have not had ANY energy for months. I thought it was coming back last week one day but it only lasted that one day and then I became sluggish again. 8) I'm still sluggish. 9) My house is a wreck due to said sluggishness and I have had to pay some attention to it. 10) (Insert whatever judgemental thought & opinions you have of why I have been neglectful recently)...I am sure you are more right than this pitiful list of excuses. Anyway, a few weeks ago we decided to pull out The Goonies and watch it together as a family. Here's why: we had been playing way too much on facebook and I had taken several 80's movie quizzes to test my knowledge of being a true 80's child; something I pride myself on. So one quiz was entirely made up of questions from the movie The Goonies. I had NEVER seen this movie. (Yes, I repeat N.E.V.E. R.) so I asked Jeff to come help me take the quiz so I could still get a 100%. He had a better idea. Why not just watch the movie and then take the quiz so that I would know the answers? So we did. The kids loved it. I thought it was okay but probably would have liked it a lot when I was 11. Jeff also made shakes for our enjoyment. Here are the kids watching and drinking their shakes.

Spring Break

2009-03-15T17:25:00.001-07:00

Spring Break came and went...That's all.

Madelyn's Sixth Birthday!

2009-03-05T18:46:00.008-07:00

Today is Madelyn's birthday...My baby girl is six years old today. This one was a little hard to take. Bronson turned four last month and I could totally see the last four years almost day for day. It felt long. But Madelyn's last six years have been too fast it seems. I don't know how that happens when they overlap with Bronson's but its hard to see her growing up.

Sadly my sweet little girl was sick today. So she couldn't go to her class at school and bring goodies. I think that is something you would look forward to all year. She took care most of the day and just kept asking when it was time for presents. You can still long for fun when you are sick!

We waited until Kaitlyn got home from school and Jeff woke up before going to work tonight. That meant for a long day for her. She did sleep some with Daddy. She also informed us that she should get six presents since she is six years old. We took heed and she had six gifts plus one from Grandma and Grandpa Crockett. They were bonus gifts. She also got a present from Aunt Megan yesterday when we saw her and Grandma Armold's present came in the mail which we hadn't checked until later. Thanks for the special presents.

She got a decorate it yourself t-shirt from the new Barbie Thumbelina movie and the original Thumbelina movie from G&G. We are excited to get coloring on that shirt and make it beautiful and sparkly!

She also asked for a High School Musical jewelry box which she saw and could not live without. But what good is a jewelry box without some jewelry? Not much. So she got some beautiful pieces to put in her box. Including dangly earrings. oooohhhh!

Mom went with the HSM theme and found a cheer leading costume for dressing up. She is still into the dress up thing so it was great and it still fit her since she is a peanut. Dad couldn't be outdone and found a youth size small camo hunting shirt which should last until she is driving.

Cousin Emie had a birthday last week and had the perfect cake...a cupcake cake! So we borrowed this cake pan and made one fit for a six year old including purple frosting and sprinkles. Pink cake inside made it taste delicious!

Even for having some asthma issues today she managed to blow out her candles under par at 3 blows. Good job!

She quickly tried out the cheer uniform and wore it for a while even to go get Kaitlyn from her Activity Days activity and then time for bed she changed into her new pajama shirt as she has deemed it. Good girl. I knew she wouldn't be see in public wearing that thing!

What is Madelyn doing these days?

>She is 3/4 through with Kindergarten and has had a great first year in school. Her teacher is Mrs. Deanna Smith.

>She is quickly learning to read and is always sounding things out around her.

>She JUST learned how to ride her bike without her training wheels!

>She is 38 7/8 inches tall and weighs 29.5 lbs. She wears a size 4/5 in shirts and pants. Size 7 1/2 in shoes.

>She is in the CTR 6 class at church and her teacher is Sister Heather Tregaskes.

>She is an excellent artist and loves to create new master pieces.

To My Madelyn:

I love you little girl. You are a sweet girl who brings us so much joy. You have been a blessing to us since the day you were born. We are glad you have been such a fighter; battling your asthma and allergies like a trooper. I am sorry if my participation in a country dancing youth activity caused my water to break and forced you to be born before you and your little lungs were ready. Thank you for being so strong and determined. You are a smart girl who will someday do wonderful and amazing things for people. You are also kind and sweet hearted. You are a friend to all. I look forward to what the next six years will bring with you. Its always fun and always a surprise. Thank you for coming to our family and making our lives so perfectly blessed.

Love,

Mommy

Nostalgia In Baseball

2009-03-03T17:08:00.004-07:00

Today we went to the college to watch the baseball and softball teams play, I think, their first games this season. It might have just been two home games that they wanted to promote attendance to. Anyway, they had free tacos, beans, and rice and brownies and soda...Yum and FREE! Bonus! So we watched the boys play for a while and they just sucked. Sorry, but they did. They didn't even get a hit until the 6th inning. Meanwhile, the other team had 9 runs by that time. So after being annoyed and bored and HOT in the sun I took Bronson down to the grass to play while I sat in the shade. We stayed there for a couple innings at least and then Jeff joined us. We decided to go check out the girls playing on another field when someone told us they were creaming the other team. Sure enough, we got there and it was the third inning and it was 18-0 our team. We watched for a while. It was really HOT so after a while I took Bronson for a walk thinking it would trigger Jeff's mind to say let's go which it didn't. We walked around the whole recreation area and back to the girls' playing field. Then we went back to watch some more of the boys since they were both double headers. Anyway finally, to save the day the school nurse called and said Madelyn was wheezing at school and they don't have an inhaler so we left to go take care of her. It was fun to get out but the games could have been more exciting and it was HOT. I, of course, don't have any pictures of this, but the proof is in the sunburn I got on my arms, neck and legs. I am a total farmer now!
It was so fun, though, to be back at the field and watching games like I did many, many, many years ago. It felt different but a little the same. I loved E.A.C. and I am glad I get to check out the scene there every so often. Go Gila Monsters!

Let Me Sum Up!

2009-02-25T08:46:00.009-07:00

February has been a busy month for us so I thought I would sum things up in one post. Hopefully you won't care too much if some of these tidbits have already been touched upon.

The week after Kaitlyn broke her collar bone, Madelyn got sick with something. She had no appetite (which is huge) and she just lied around all day. So we kept her home from school a couple days. Here she is that Monday. She slept most of the day and didn't eat much. Just like that both girls' perfect attendance for the year was slashed. I also woke up one night and found Bronson asleep with his light on lying there like this (see above photo). It was so cute. I snapped a picture.

Early in the month we got a packet in the mail from some cousins in Ohio. Brandon was having a project for his class based on a character in a book called Flat Stanley. Each kid colored a picture of Flat Stanley and sent him across the country to see what adventures he could have. We took Flat Stanley out to the desert to take a picture near some cacti (correct use of plural-pat on the back for me). It was fun to look around for different kinds and surprisingly we had to search for more than we thought. We could not find a wild Saguaro though. We found some in peoples' yards but none growing wildly. It was fun and we got some good family photos.

We also went back out to the temple grounds site and took another picture with Flat Stanley to commemorate him being with us for that occasion. It was windy the day of so he stayed in the car. He was also there for Bronson's birthday party!

The girls also decided to make their own Valentine's Day boxes for this year's parties at school. They hold a contest every year but we had not participated in that as of yet. The only requirements are it has to be a shoe box and it has to have a hole in the top for the cards to go into. We found two shoes boxes and got out the Popsicle sticks and paint and some wooden heart shapes I had on hand. In my mind they looked very different than the actual final outcome. But they did it all themselves. I helped with the "super hot glue gun" (as the kids called it) when the regular glue wouldn't attach to the boxes.

Bronson painted too and the next morning I found a third box for him to glue stuff on. They were so proud of their work but alas it was not enough to convince the judges. Neither of their boxes won any kind of prize. We still had fun and they loved it!

We did the girls' hair cute a couple times for the week of Valentine's Day. I like how it turned out but the work involved was more pain than gain. I will probably do it again next year though.

And here are the kids one day when Jeff was working on the truck or something. I don't know exactly but I saw him uploading this picture and he just said they were all standing there ready for a picture so he went in and got the camera...Funny!

Awww So Sweet!

2009-02-19T08:33:00.002-07:00

I wanted to post this on Valentine's Day but things were a little busy. I still think its good and entertaining so for the month of February I will share. Grab someone you love and enjoy!

Also On Saturday...

2009-02-18T14:23:00.004-07:00

The actual reason my sister's family came over this weekend was for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Gila Valley Temple. We were able to attend and watch via satellite at our stake center. Getting 10 people up and ready by six something in the morning was not happening at our house on Saturday. It didn't help that we stayed up until midnight talking. We arrived at the stake center at the time they said we should be there by before they said it would be too late to get in. That was 8:20 am. Then we sat there listening to hymns waiting for the ceremony to begin. It was scheduled for 9:00 am but I am pretty sure it started late.

The reason I am pretty sure it started late and not 100% sure is b/c as I was holding Bronson on my lap listening to hymns and waiting for it to start, he decided to wet on me! This was at about 10 minutes til 9:00. But we had all piled into Megan's car to get there and I couldn't take their car to go home and change (no one trusts me with their vehicles~there is a reason for that though). So we walked to the back and found my dad with another grand kid ~Parker~who was also rowdy for the occasion. I stood the entire time trying to air out and not let my dress touch my leg. Bronson became little Mr. Shy after that and clung to me until it was almost over. Thanks Justin and Mom for sitting with my girls during the ceremony and thanks to them for behaving and not wetting themselves.

The only reason I document that little tidbit at all is b/c my grandma told me I had to and that that is what makes days like this memorable for the kids.

After we got home and changed (and cleaned up) we took the kids out to the site for them to be able to see it and also turn the shovels as well. The temple will actually sit on this spot. Cool.

The sun was shining and the wind was blowing but each kid got to take a turn digging and we even took some of the dirt home in a container. (Hopefully that's okay!?) They also each took a rock from the ground. Our entire family has a tradition of collecting rocks and we couldn't waste the opportunity to have some dedicated and sanctified dirt and rocks in our collection.

Come to find out later that we could have gone to the actual site even as late as 8:20 b/c so many people decided to go to the stake centers (where is was warmer) that they had empty chairs at the grounds. I wish we would have been more diligent about going but what can you do now?The temple will serve many of the surrounding stakes in the Eastern Arizona region as well as some in New Mexico. It will take 12-16 months to be completed and will be 15,000 square feet and the tallest building in the area. In the early 1900s a prophecy was made concerning a temple to be built here in this valley. Finally this prophecy has come to pass. The people who spoke on Saturday morning spoke of their ancestors and the settlers of this area who they also felt were in attendance for this wonderful occasion. As I listened I thought of my grandad and his parents and my grandma's parents. And our other ancestors who came her under the direction of the prophet. Also President Kimball (who was from here) and his wife Camilla Eyring (also from here). How excited and thrilled they must be to have this blessing brought to us their descendants. Although they did clarify to all that the responsibilities that come with having this temple lie in the hands of us. This is our blessing and we must be worthy of it and use it to our fullest advantage.

Bronson's 4th Birthday

2009-02-15T09:13:00.006-07:00

This is a day late and a dollar short but I wanted to document about Bronson's birthday! We had a great day with our cousins from Mesa coming over to celebrate. There was a lot going on this weekend which kept us busy but having fun across the board at everything. This is Saturday evening when we finally got around to having the party. He got a few presents from Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa and his cousins. Of course he was thrilled about the batteries that went with his remote control car. Funny!

He also got this Diego dinosaur toy which has a lot of accessories. He has been playing with it ever since it came out of the box! He has quite the imagination when he plays all alone while the girls are at school.

As he was opening this gift from Mom and Dad he knew it was a movie and he said, "I hope it's Space Buddies!" So cute. Lucky for us that is what it was! He was also excited about the dollar we put in his card. Kids are so easy to please sometimes. I said sometimes!

And as promised I made the Mike Wazowski cake that I saw on the Internet. It turned out pretty much as well as it possibly could have with me being the one making it so I was happy. And it tasted good too! Woohoo for me!

Yesterday a package arrived from Jeff's mom and step-dad. They sent a few things which were perfect gifts for Bronson. Jeff was most pleased with the Hunter Dan "action figure"...its not a doll! He also got a card from Jeff's dad and step-mom which Bronson has carried around with him a lot since opening it up! Funny!

Thanks again for all the fun and love on Bronson's birthday. We love you all and had so much fun!

What is Bronson doing these days?

>He just started going to Primary and loves being a Sunbeam. His teacher is Sister Sandy Foutz. She is beautiful.

>He loves his sisters and misses them while they are in school all day. He loves it when it is time to pick them up.

>He runs around everywhere. He can't get anywhere fast enough. Some times he runs on his toes which makes us think he might be destined for ballet!

>He is 38 1/4 inches tall and weighs 34 lbs. He wears a size 4T or 5T in shirts and 4T in pants. His shoes size is 7 1/2.

>He loves dinosaurs.

>He loves to sing the ABC song and a few others from Primary.

To My Bronson:

I love you so much. You have brought our family so much fun and joy. We love your sweet, tender spirit and heart. Your rough exterior is the perfect cover for your loving spirit. You are a bundle of fun and have brought new meaning to the word excitement. We never would have guessed before we had you that you would have been so busy and alive. You are truly a curious boy. You are also a very smart little boy and have some very interesting thoughts and perspectives on what is going on around you. Thank you for being so wonderful. Thank you for coming to our family and making it just right for us. I can't wait to see how much you grow and change in the next year before you start school. You are my wonderful little lover boy! I love you!
Love,

Mommy

Three Cheers For Octuplets!

2009-02-12T21:39:00.003-07:00

There are other things I wouldn't mind posting about right now but I can't NOT say this.My heart goes out to this poor lady who just gave birth (to eight babies) like two weeks ago and has not had one second of time to do any mothering to any of her children b/c people (read: the media) think its their business how many children she should have. And they want an explanation as to why and how and a million other questions. Umm hello people, "Butt out!" I can't even think of one time turning on the T.V. in the last week and not seeing this lady in a sit down being lectured on how what she did was wrong and selfish and why didn't she just stop at 6 etc. Props to her for being so poised and determined to defend herself and her family. I do hope that she comes out on top and that she manages to be able to support them whatever comes her way.
Here comes a rant:
Look at Ann Curry all holier than thou sitting there judging Nadya Suleman. She accused her of being selfish and thoughtless and reckless when learning of the number of babies she was carrying and not doing anything about it. I am sure these words were fed to her through some lefty controlled teleprompter. So easy for someone who has bags of money and apparently no inner filter to spit out hatred on national television. Lucky for Nadya, she has what they call a heart and love and nurturing in her which is why she should be successful in raising her children. These are things that Ann Curry has either lost or never had. Her nanny probably raised her kids.
All I see is a future in which the government takes control of EVERYTHING and all of a sudden we are forced into limiting the number of children we are allowed to bring into the world. Then what gender of child is acceptable etc. etc. How close are we to that already?
In the mean time let this tired, sweet mother go home...sheesh!

Getting Ready For Valentine's Day

2009-02-08T21:25:00.007-07:00

Well, since Valentine's Day is coming soon I thought I would try out these hair-dos from the Hair Lady. They looked easy and fun. I was just goofing around after the girls got their showers on Saturday night. But after getting them both figured out and taking some time to do it; I thought we should at least show this off. So I re-did a little bit of it this morning and they went to church with heart hair. I am not sure it will be done again later this week, but it turned out cute.

Here is Madelyn's heart hair after church today. It looked a little bit more finished than this before church. She has a hard time sitting still and not climbing on things and rough housing. Oh, and she has of course already changed out of her church clothes back into her pajamas.

Here is Kaitlyn's heart hair. This one took some time and is not the easiest thing to get that heart shape to stay with all the pulling and tugging to do the next part, but I thought it was close enough to a heart to be able to tell what it was. I threaded the ribbon through AFTER the whole thing was done. Next time (yeah right!) I will do it as I go.

Also, we got notices on Friday that the schools will be having their Valentine's Day party on Friday. Which means that we will be needing two boxes and two sets of V-Day cards this time around. Well, I just thought we might try to make our own this year to save on costs. So I found some simple clip art images of V-Day and typed up generic Happy Valentine's Day with to/from and copied one of several images and saved it to the computer. This way we can print it off and the girls can sit and address each one. I am sure I can find some pretty stickers in the house to finish them off.

Hopefully, people won't feel like they have to keep up with some of this extra stuff. Kids won't remember the next day who got home made cards and who got store bought ones. I might make some cookies instead of buying candy too. But we will see. I might just make the cookies for us.

We also have Bronson's birthday on Valentine's Day. Which is why I really want to cut costs. We haven't planned anything yet. Both of us decided that this year birthdays would be smaller than previously. I have a couple ideas for gifts and saw this cake on another blog which I am totally stealing for his birthday. It has four candles so that is why I am stealing it. Bronson will be four.So far every year he has had a heart shaped pink cake for his b-day, but last year Jeff said, "How long are we gonna do that?" I know he just can't handle that his son had pink for his cake but come on he was born on Valentine's Day!

ALSO, one last thing. On Saturday February 14, 2009 at 9:00 A.M. they will be having the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Gila Valley Temple. That is also the 97th anniversary of Arizona becoming a state. Jeff will be working that day so I have not yet decided if we will be attending. We would have to get there several hours early and wait for it to start. Also in Sunday dress and who knows about the weather. Just our luck it would be raining and cold. Plus we might have to walk quite a ways to the site. I just don't know with three kids, but I haven't ruled out going. I also thought they might need an interpreter which would mean finding someone to take care of the kids before and during. I do think it would be a wonderful opportunity for them to be there. We shall see!